The Jets, for months, have seemed to be the perfect option for running back Le’Veon Bell. And that may indeed be the case. But the Jets may have to work out some internal issues before that happens.
Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reports that the Jets currently are divided on whether to sign Bell. Per the report, some don’t believe he’s worth the “anticipated price tag” of $15 million or more per year, and there are concerns about “his mileage and mercurialness.”
Then there’s the concern that the Jets could once again be used as leverage for Bell to get the most money he can, from someone else. Last year, New York’s interest in Kirk Cousins (bullet dodged) helped him get $84 million over three years from the Vikings. This year, New York’s interest in Bell could get him more from someone else, like maybe the Raiders.
Manish also explains that some in the building believe that the team’s new offense under coach Adam Gase doesn’t need a star running back to thrive. Of course, making a play for Bell would be about more than football. It would be about business, too -- and the Jets have had a hard time competing from a business standpoint with the other team that plays in their stadium.
That’s where the rubber could meet the road. The football people (Gase) won’t want to spend the money for a luxury player whom the Jets may not really need. The money people may not care about that, coveting the prospect of having a press conference and holding up a jersey and selling tickets and generating interest and attention and dumping cash and cap dollars into the remaining years before quarterback Sam Darnold gets a second contract.