This offense, especially the feeble running game, isn’t good enough for the Bears to turn down a gift like Le’Veon Bell becoming available just because they’re worried about a little drama.
It’s true Bell has always brought drama with him, but he’s also brought something else: production. And when you’re near the bottom of the NFL in points, rushing and virtually everything else that requires moving the football forward, that’s worth a look.
Bell is worth more than a look. He’s somewhere between tempting and compelling. The Bears would be negligent to skip past him.
He’s a former all-pro and still more than a year away from his dreaded 30th birthday, the unofficial sell-by date for running backs. Last season, playing in one of the few offenses more dysfunctional than the Bears’, Bell put up 789 yards rushing and 461 receiving for the Jets. The Bears haven’t had a player hit 1,250 total yards since Jordan Howard in 2016.
They’ve needed a playmaker other than wide receiver Allen Robinson for going on two years now, and there’s even more urgency to find one with Tarik Cohen out for the season. Bell, who has three seasons of 600-plus receiving yards, has the potential to fill the Cohen role and then some.
Bell had 67 yards from scrimmage on 13 rushes and one catch for the Jets in his final game Sunday against the Cardinals.
One argument against signing Bell is that it could stunt the growth of David Montgomery, but the Bears don’t have the luxury of worrying about that. If Bell can still make something out of nothing, a necessary skill given the Bears’ offensive line woes, Montgomery will survive a brief reduction in opportunities.
