New York Jets training camp: 3 Players with most to prove
By Randy Gurzi
2. Le’Veon Bell, Running Back
Last season, Le’Veon Bell was all over the news even though he never played a single down. Entrenched in a contract dispute with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bell was adamant about not playing on the franchise tag. His bluff was called by the team and he ended up staying home for the entire season.
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That led to him hitting the open market and in the end, he signed a contract with the New York Jets worth up to $52.5 million over four seasons — $35 million of which was guaranteed. While he was offered $70 million from the Steelers, which led to criticism of Bell for not taking that deal, they were only giving him roughly $10 million guaranteed.
He landed himself the more secure deal by waiting, but there will continue to be doubter who want to pounce on him for bucking the system. It’s rare a player actually does sit out for an extended time, and Bell doing so for an entire year was surely risky.
Making matters even more interesting is the report that surfaced after the Jets fired general manager Mike Maccagnan that Adam Gase didn’t even want Bell (remember, he doesn’t like star players who take the attention away from him and his awesomeness).
Add all this up and Bell has a lot to prove as a player. He enters camp needing to show doubters that sitting out a year didn’t hurt his ability to perform. He also has to convince “Crazy Eyes” Gase that he’s still capable of taking over an offense and winning games. This season will be huge for Bell and it all begins this week in camp.