Le’Veon Bell to test the market, will the Eagles get in on the sweepstakes?
With Le’Veon Bell officially being told he can test the free agency market, will the Philadelphia Eagles try to make a move for him?
Let the games begin! It’s been a bit of a slow start to the offseason, but things are beginning to heat up a bit finally. As the free agency market is starting to form, one of the most prominent running backs in the game has officially found out that he will be free to test the market. We’re talking about the now former Pittsburgh Steelers running back, Le’Veon Bell.
Obviously we all know the basis of his story. Over the last two years, Bell has been frustrated with the Steelers front office, since they wouldn’t give him the desirable amount of guaranteed money in his contract. He held out two seasons ago but eventually made his way back onto the field with the team. However, last season was different. Bell stuck to his guns and refused to play football for the Steelers in 2018, and ended up missing the entire season.
The Steelers couldn’t have Bell play, but they refused to release him as well. So with that, they attempted to trade him away well before the NFL’s trade deadline but failed to do so. One of the teams that were apparently in on the trading action was none other than Philadelphia Eagles general manager, Howie Roseman.
Were the Eagles truly serious contenders to trade for Bell? We’re not exactly sure. But we do know that Howie couldn’t just let the opportunity to actually get on the phone with the Steelers to talk shop regarding Bell pass up. Now that Bell is free to talk to anybody, and the Eagles are in need of a game-changer in the backfield, could the Eagles consider getting in on the Bell sweepstakes?
Will Howie Roseman attempt to bring in Bell?
Steelers are not tagging Le'Veon Bell, according to GM Kevin Colbert: "Le’Veon is still a great player. We can’t afford to use any other type of tags. Le’Veon will be an unrestricted free agent at the start of the new league year."
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) February 20, 2019
I’ll have to be honest here – the chances of Bell coming to Philly are likely slim-to-none. The Eagles definitely need to figure out a way to upgrade their backfield, but we have to assume that they aren’t going to prioritize the position as much as some would like them to do. Think about it. Bell is leaving the Steelers because he felt that he was being undervalued with what they were going to pay him. And by now we should know that the Steelers weren’t precisely low-balling Bell.
The guy is terrific in the backfield, but he’s made it known that he wants to get paid. That’s not to say that he’s a bad teammate or anything, but the Eagles have a lot of upgrading to do this season and their financial situation when it comes to cap space is not in any condition to be throwing tons of money at a running back when the Eagles typically run-by-committee.
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Le’Veon Bell to the Eagles is a pipe dream. Nothing less, nothing more. Unless the Eagles start making some significant cuts, or trades to free up a lot of cap, we shouldn’t expect to see them even discussing a potential deal with Bell. Their best bet is to either bring back Jay Ajayi on a cheap deal or snag a running back on draft day.