Aug 20, 2020; Florham Park, New Jersey, USA; New York Jets running back Le'Veon Bell (26) participates in drills during training camp at Atlantic Health Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Well, that seemed to escalate pretty quickly. On the same day that it was reported that the New York Jets were looking to trade All-Pro running back Le’Veon Bell, the team has moved on from him completely.
The Jets announced on Tuesday that they have made the decision to release the free-agent bust.
What a dramatic fall from grace for Bell. A three-time Pro Bowl performer as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bell signed a four-year, $52.5 million contract with the Jets back in March of 2019.
Ultimately, he played a grand total of 17 games with the team while recording less than 1,000 rushing yards before being released on Tuesday.
There’s an obvious backdrop to this news.
It was just on Monday that Bell’s social media activity included him liking tweets of fans recommending that the Jets trade him. Gase took exception to that.
“I hate that that’s the route that we go with all this instead of just talking to me about it,” Gase said, via Brian Costello of the NY Post. “It seems that’s the way guys want to do it nowadays.”
It really is interesting that Gase would call Bell out publicly for the running back taking to the public about concerns over his role with the team ahead of Tuesday’s release. But I digress. Gase’s situation with the Jets is a completely different monster.
As for the release of Bell, the Jets take an absurd $19.06 million dead cap hit by moving on from the former Pro Bowl back.
It will certainly be interesting to see where Bell lands. There’s going to be a market for his services. That’s for sure.