I’m not against Bell, however Bell went to a team that has always invested high 1st and 2nd round picks on offensive linemen. Jets can’t open holes for any RB at this point. A skilled RB is not going to do anything behind this oline, if anything, his style is counterproductive because he’s so patient. If Jets upgrade the oline with a couple of high draft picks and a good FA signing I’m all in on Bell. However is they sign Bell and expect this oline to contribute to a successful running game I don’t believe it’s a good investment.
I have been saying this all season. Manish Mehta has been campaigning on Twitter all season saying that the Jets HAVE to sign him and it would be a mistake not to. Would he help Darnold in the short term (1-2 years), for sure he would. But he has two 400+ touch seasons and the tires are going to fall off soon. He is an old 26-27 year old RB. I am not a fan of spending that kind of money on a RB. The Jets should target Oline and playmakers in the draft/free agency, but signing Bell isn't an idea I can get behind. Why not go after RB Tevin Coleman? Nobody is talking about him and he is the guy I would covet. He would be a great fit for this team, would fill a need, is a good pass catcher, has experience lining up as a WR, is young, and does NOT have a ton of touches on his resume.
In free agency specifically, what OL and playmakers do you want the Jets to target? Coleman and....?? Point being, this FA market is pretty weak. You're either hitting a homerun (Bell) or you're getting decent WR 2/3's. And the OL crop is pretty sad. You can also hit a homerun (Bell) and bring in more than one of those OL or WRs. We have the money to do so. I rarely ever agree with Manish, but Bell is a great RB and WR. You can't just look at it as signing a RB because you're not just getting a two down guy that has to rely on an offensive line to create holes. You can line him up in the slot and he'd be better than any slot receiver we've had since Chrebet. And the biggest thing is we can have our cake and eat it too. It's not like you're paying Bell then closing up shop for the rest of free agency.
I loathe what Bell did in Pittsburgh with his holdout, but we need him in the worst way. Almost every very good team in the NFL today has an elite back who can hurt defenses in the running and passing games.
This is it. Yes we would be overpaying for Bell to an extent, but what else is there? What are the other options in FA this year? We need to invest heavily in the Oline, but there are not players out there that would be sure fire upgrades. We may as well pay for excellence where we can because otherwise we are just throwing money at mediocrity.
I'd make a push for Hunt... he should come much cheaper with the cloud over him and with less wear & tear.
Yep. Peyton Manning ring a bell? I'm sure Tanny wishes he went that route over signing Sanchez to an extension... How long have we just sat back and watched other teams capitalize on assets? We finally used some of them to move up and get our guy, now our guy is an asset himself paired with a ton of money and hopefully a new coaching staff. I feel like I sound like a broken record but we have the money to make a splash AND sign quality pieces elsewhere... why wouldn't we? Also I'm going Friday/Sunday. You going at all?
I am not a fan of giving RBs big money but Bell is not just a RB but a legit number 2 WR. The second reason to sign Bell is there not much else of value that we can allocate that cap space to. We can resign LW, we can sign 1 or 2 edge rushers and we can sign some mid tier OL but not only will we overpay the return in on field production may not be very good. At least with Bell you know you are getting 2 to 3 years of elite production and most importantly your giving your young QB a weapon which should make everyone else on the offense better. In 3 years when Bell is done hopefully we will have upgraded the OL and our WRs. I hate the idea of giving a RB that much money but if we are going to spend it there is nothing else out there that can help Sam and this offense better than Bell.
The case for not getting him is Pittsburgh is averaging more points per game without him than with him. It seems crazy to give over 10% of your cap to a player who has minimal impact on your teams performance. You can make the argument on a team with less offensive threats he will have a lot more impact. David Johnson missed all of last year and is back healthy. His impact has been none existent. He does everything Bell does. We need to invest in the OL a good WR and TE. You can get effective running backs in round 3 and up. I can't see tying up 10 plus percent of our cap on a running back who has sat a season and had zero impact on his teams offensive performance.
Eh, no-one will ever agree on it, but I don't want him and I'm sticking by it. Watch him become a Cheat tomorrow.
Exactly my thoughts here. We have 100M in cap and a QB on his rookie deal. We need to surround him with weapons and Bell is one of the best, we need him.
The match of Bell and the Colts (on both sides) seems so obvious that I can't imagine that it's not obvious to them. I can't see any reason why Bell would prefer coming to the Jets over going to the Colts, barring a lot more money, and I certainly don't think the Jets should be overpaying for a running back with a lot of wear on the tires.
Agree with OP. Put the money to strengthen the trenches first. In the ultimate Bell is not going to be instrumental in keeping Sam healthy and on his feet. Give him some better weapons, but don't really have to be super stars.
It’s very easy to throw out positions to go after. We need OL, TE, and WR (I don’t think we need a TE given herndons play but that’s another story) ... but that’s not really offering alternatives it’s offering ideas. Which players out there would you suggest to invest in over bell? Where are these upgrades in the positions you suggest coming from?
It's also easy to identify one player when you're not a GM who has a staff analyzing ever teams cap, who's is likely to be cut and what is going to be available. Here's what we do know. We have a lot of cap room this year. We don't know what will be available in the next two to 3 years. The Jets are set up to front load a couple of contracts. The problem with a front loaded contract is what happens when a player who has been front loaded decides to hold out after taking the front load? That's exactly what Revis did. Bell is likely to hold out in year 2 or 3 on a front loaded contract. He held out on an amazingly lucrative 1 year deal. Do you really want to risk that when good running backs are routinely available to draft in round 3 and up. Bell doesn't change the biggest problem on our O. We are overmatched at the point of attack. When you give a free agent big money it's not just one year of cap space, it's multiple years. That's potentially a lot of missed opportunity.
Giants just burned a 2nd overall pick on a Bell clone. You KNOW Macc will be going all out for this kid. The first time he takes a screen pass to the house everyone will love him! ('him' = Bell and Macc).
Yes and no. You can argue that a legit running threat who doubles as a slot receiver helps Sam stay upright just as much as a mediocre lineman, and that's what's available.
Bell is an absolute stud, but he's going to cost quite a bit. I'd rather put the resources into somebody like Mark ingram. Even though he's a little bit older, he's got low wear and tear and won't break the bank. It's funny because Bell recently liked a tweat (I know stupid speculative nonsense) from somebody saying that Bell could be the "Jamal Adams" of the Jets offense next year. I just don't want to give the guy WR money.
