NFL: Le'Veon Bell On The Trade Block
Per Adam Schefter, Le’Veon Bell is officially on the trade block. The Pittsburgh Steelers, growing tired of this holdout with seemingly no end in sight, are looking to get something out of the running back before he hits free agency next year.
This also may just be an attempt to send a message to Le’Veon Bell that they don’t feel they need him enough to pay him what he wants and that they are not budging. Time will tell how serious the move is on the part of the Steelers, but teams with deep wallets who may have been planning to take a run at Bell next year are most likely going to be reaching out to the Steelers in the coming days. If a team is prepared to pay Bell and is willing to give up enough draft capital, Bell may never return to Heinz Field after all.
Over the past five seasons, Bell has run for over 1260 yards in 3 of them. Bell has also caught 312 passes for 2660 yards over the course of the past 5 seasons as well. Arguably the best running back in the league right now, and universally considered to be in the top 5, he is a hot commodity to many teams in Win-Now mode.
However, he isn’t just a possible Target for Win-Now teams, a team like The New York Jets are being rumored to already be on the phone with Steelers GM Kevin Colbert. With a weak O-line, no true #1 receiver, and a rookie QB, Bell may be just what they need to get pressure off of QB Sam Darnold as well as open up a passing game which has been lacking in recent games for the Jets.
Other possible landing spots are hard to point out, as very few teams would not benefit from the addition of Bell. A shorter list may actually be, what teams won’t at least humor exploring this trade?
Time will tell if Bell will be suiting up at all this season, as well as which team it would be for. Sooner or Later, the holdout will come to a head. The question is, what colors will the Star halfback be dawning? Could 1st rounders be at stake? Or with his high price tag, will a discount in terms of draft capital be in play? We all will just have to wait and see who steps up, Le’Veon Bell, Pittsburgh, or another team entirely.