After attempting to trade RB Le’Veon Bell, the New York Jets decided that releasing Bell was the best decision for both parties moving forward. The veteran running back will become an unrestricted free agent and will be free to sign with any team of his liking.
The Kansas City Chiefs have an ace in the hole when it comes to bringing Le’Veon Bell to their franchise. It’s not Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid or their new Lombardi Trophy either. Instead, it’s Chris Jones, who first began recruiting Bell to the Chiefs in March of 2019. After Bell left the Steelers and before he had decided to sign with the Jets, he randomly showed up in Jones’ Instagram story and appeared to show interest in coming to Kansas City.
#whatif 🤷🏾♂️@LeVeonBell ??
#🔑🏆…… https://t.co/w1VB0pdTOP— Chris Jones (@StoneColdJones) March 6, 2019
Bell and Jones are friends who often work out together during the offseason. Now that Bell has become a free agent again, Jones has renewed his recruitment campaign. He reached out to Bell on Tuesday night on Twitter after the news of his release broke.
— Chris Jones (@StoneColdJones) October 14, 2020
No words were said on Twitter, but everyone knows exactly what Jones is thinking.
As for what fans are thinking; How could Kansas City possibly afford to bring in a player like Bell? Well, he made roughly $30 million to play 18 games in New York over the span of two seasons. His release will see a large sum of his contract paid out, which could open up the possibility of a short-term minimum contract in 2020. Think of it as a prove-it deal where he could come in and perform, win some games and hit free agency again looking for another big contract.
The Chiefs currently have about $6.5 million in cap space to work with according to the NFLPA’s public salary cap report. That should be more than enough to answer Jones’ wishes and bring his friend Bell to the team.
