Report: Bears weren’t really in pursuit of Le’Veon Bell

Chicago Bears fans got their hopes up for a potential splash signing from Ryan Pace.

It turns out, he was never very deep in any pursuit of former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell.

Here, from last night, is a list of teams that were NOT involved in the Le’Veon Bell chase. There were murmurs on the Raiders late, but that may have them being used as a stalking horse.

Really, this was Jets from start to finish. https://t.co/zpo6xrravo

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 13, 2019

Bell ended up signing a four-year deal worth up to $61 million, with $35 million guaranteed. At that price, the Bears might have dodged a bullet.

It was unlikely the whole time that Pace would go out and spend top dollar on a free agent running back, but speculation ran rampant after the Bears cleared up $11 million in cap space Tuesday morning.

Bears fans are left wondering where that extra salary is going to go, but it may end up in the pockets of players already on the roster as Pace looks to hand out contract extensions to the likes of Eddie Jackson and Cody Whitehair.

Then again, the young general manager may still have one more big signing up his sleeve — it just won’t be the likes of Bell.