NFL Rumors: Le’Veon Bell Contacted These Teams Before Joining Jets
Le’Veon Bell, like most expected, ultimately agreed to join his highest bidder, but the star running back reportedly did a fair share of due diligence before starting the next chapter of his NFL career.
The New York Jets won the Bell sweepstakes, as the two sides allegedly agreed to a four-year contract worth $52 million that could reach $61 million through incentives. But prior to agreeing to take his talents to the Big Apple, Bell contacted two other AFC teams, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
From @gmfb: At the end, RB Le'Veon Bell took the #Jets best offer, as the #Raiders and #Ravens never really swooped in to force them to sweeten in. pic.twitter.com/A5Sm0igLVa
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 13, 2019
The Ravens addressed their need at running back not long after Bell landed with the Jets, as Baltimore on Wednesday reportedly agreed to a three-year deal with Mark Ingram. As for the Oakland Raiders, one has to imagine they weren’t in the business of issuing another lucrative free-agent contract in wake of Trent Brown’s reported record-breaking deal, as well as Antonio Brown’s reworked contract.
All told, Bell’s market might not have been as robust as most originally expected it to be.
