Jets Releases Le' Veon Bell, the All-Pro Running Back

After The New York Jets released Le' Veon Bell, the two-time All-Pro running back will be looking for another home in the last 18 months. The Jets released Bell after he was still to complete his second season with the team. In the 2019 season, Bell had signed a  $52 million contract with the New York Jets, which included $27 million guaranteed. Bell will be subject to waivers and in case he does not claim the waiver, he can move to and sign any contract with another team. 

Joe Douglas, Jets general manager on the Move.

The general manager of the team, Joe Douglas announced the move on his Twitter handles on behalf of the team. The statement said, "After having conversations with Le'Veon and his agent and exposing potential trade options over the past couple of days, we have made the decision to release Le'Veon. The Jets organization appreciates Le' Veon’s efforts during his time here and we know he worked hard to make significant contributions to this team. We believe this decision is in the best interests of both parties and wish him future success." In response to the statement released by Douglas, Bell came with a statement, "Got a lot to prove. I'm ready to go."

This move coming from the Jets’ will create a dead cap space of $15 million & $4 million for 2020 & 2021 respectively. Any team, if claims Bell on waivers, they will have to be on the hook for the remaining part of Bell’s salary. In spite of the fact that Bell was one of the highest-paid running backs, he never played the way he was paid. In all his 17 games, Bell was never able to post a 100-yard game or record a run longer than 19 yards. With all that it looked like Bell could not fit into the Gase's system. Bell is known for his versatility & patience, but he could not receive more than one target in his last game, which resulted in a 30-10 loss to the Cardinals. 

Bell Five Years with Steelers

Bell played for the Steelers for the first five seasons of his career. In his career with the Steelers, he rushed for three touchdowns, 863 yards, and averaged 3.3 yards. This season, playing with the Jets Bell missed three games because of the injury. In two games, he has just 22 touches for 113 all-purpose yards in two games.

In the 2013 draft, Bell was the second-round pick. In Pittsburgh, he made most of the rookie season. During the season, he also broke Franco Harris' 41-year old record. It was for yards gained by a Steelers rookie. In the following 2014 season, Bell was overwhelmed amassing 2,215 all-purpose yards. In the very season, he was named the Steelers MVP. 

In 2016, Bell led the Steelers to the AFC Championship Game. He has postseason single-game rushing records and franchise single-season. In the 2017 training season, even after the odd circumstances, Bell earned All-Pro honors (this was his second time for Bell). In the season Bell in five seasons amassed 1,944 all-purpose yards. In 2018, could not come to terms on a long-term deal and he chose to sit for the entire season. We can think of several teams finding their way to quickly pursue Bell.