New Orleans Saint safety Vonn Bell agreed to a free agent contract with the Cincinnati Bengals in a situation that feels uncomfortably similar to last offseason’s loss of Mark Ingram. Both players were offered contracts by the Saints, but the team was forced to move on to other options owing to the rapidly-changing nature of the market. For Ingram, that meant landing with the Baltimore Ravens after Latavius Murray took his roster spot. And for Bell, it also means leaving for the AFC North after the Saints signed Malcolm Jenkins instead.
What stings for Bell, though, may be his contract details. Per ESPN, Bell agreed to a three-year, $18 million contract with the Bengals, which clocks in below the roughly $7.5 million per-year offer the Saints put on the table. It’s disappointing to see an up-and-comer like Bell leave New Orleans, especially for less money than the Saints reportedly offered him.
Maybe Bell overplayed his hand, or anticipated a more actively-interested free agent market. Maybe he got bad advice. Whatever the case, he’s now returning to Ohio after coming into his own in the NFL, playing football again not too far away from Ohio State, where he starred in college. It’s great that he got his money and will have the opportunity to play next to an accomplished free safety (the Bengals’ Jessie Bates is one of the better players at his position), but you have to wonder whether this was unnecessary had he accepted the offer the Saints made him.
