Le’Veon Bell plans to sign with the New York Jets in free agency.
Bell is getting a 4-year deal with the Jets worth $52.5 million, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. He is going to end up with the team many expected him to sign with all along.
Bell sat out all of the 2018 season rather than play under the franchise tag. He had turned down long-term contract offers from the Pittsburgh Steelers, feeling they were not going to pay him what he thought he deserved.
This deal offers an average annual value of $13 million, which is less than he would have been paid in the 2018 season had he chosen to play under the franchise tag for the second time. However, the guaranteed money is the key figure, and Schefter says it’s $35 million.
In 2017, Bell reportedly turned down a contract that would have paid him $18 million in the first year and averaged $13 million per season over the first three years. Last year, the Steelers’ final offer to Bell reportedly was 5 years for $70 million with over $30 million paid out in the first two years.
The difference is the guarantee — Bell will step on the field knowing he has $35 million coming to him. It’s unclear how much the Steelers were willing to guarantee him.
