One day after Adam Gase curiously didn't commit to Le'Veon Bell for next season, general manager Joe Douglas did some clean-up on Aisle 26.
Douglas praised the star running back's character and provided hope for his future with the team, while keeping all of his options open.
The truth is that the Jets aren't particularly thrilled with the idea of paying $13.5 million to a 28-year-old running back in 2020. But their hands might be tied. They'll be hard pressed to find any teams willing to absorb that much money even for a special talent like Bell. And it's fair to question the wisdom of absorbing a sizeable chunk of Bell's salary to get back a mid-late round draft pick.
"My personal experience with Le'Veon has been very positive," Douglas said Tuesday in his season wrap-up press conference. "He's done everything we've asked him to do as a person (and) as a teammate. ... He's one of our best workers. He's one of our best teammates. He connects and engages with everybody. So, I can't say enough positive things about Le'Veon."
However, Douglas didn't close the door on moving Bell if the right opportunity presented itself in the offseason.
"Like I said before, if teams do call, I'm going to listen," Douglas said. "How those conversations go, I can't speak to that. That's hypothetical. But, when teams call, I will listen."
Bell arrived to One Jets Drive as one of the NFL's most dynamic dual threat backs, but Gase never deployed him properly. He finished with just 789 rushing yards on a career-low 3.2 yards per carry. His total production dipped by 21% from his final season in Pittsburgh. His usage dropped by 24 percent.
Gase's curious response Monday to whether he wanted Bell back in 2020 _ "Ask Joe tomorrow" _ predictably didn't draw a favorable response from the player on social media.
Douglas did a solid job conveying his belief in Bell a day later.
"I can just really speak to Le'Veon the man," Douglas said. "And I think Le'Veon had a great preseason. I think Le'Veon did a great job in practice every day. I think Le'Veon brought energy to his teammates. Our goal as team, a defense, special teams, offense is to improve and so we all have to get better. The goal is for Le'Veon next year to have more production on the field."
