Le'Veon Bell blames Jets for everything as he languishes in free agency

[joewilly12]

Le’Veon Bell blames Jets for everything as he languishes in free agency

By Ryan Dunleavy

May 28, 2021 | 2:29pm | Updated 

 

Le’Veon Bell is finished taking the high road on his disastrous time with the Jets.

In a series of Tweets responding to followers on Thursday, the free-agent running back said he will sign with a team this season and suggested the downturn in his career was the fault of former Jets coach Adam Gase’s play-calling.

Bell wrote, “I’ll sign somewhere when IM ready…ain’t no more finessing me with lies and s–t just to get me to sign with they team…no more rushed decisions on my end, period…”

Bell was on a Hall-of-Fame track through five seasons with the Steelers but sat out all of 2018 due to a contract dispute. He signed a four-year, $52.5 million contract with the Jets but was cut before finishing his second season and wound up as a backup for the Chiefs who did not touch the ball in Super Bowl 55.

“lol the only difference with the steelers was they gave me opportunity… haven’t had that since I left,” Bell wrote. “I probably need to play for a defensive minded head coach instead of these offensive minded guru’s …”

That seems to be a shot at Gase, whose relationship with Bell was never on solid ground. It is well known that Gase did not want to sign Bell as a free agent. And then his usage of Bell never matched the contract.

As Bell pointed out to one fan, he had more offensive touches with the 2017 Steelers than he did in 17 games over two seasons with the Jets.

“lol so I had elite talent alllllll the way up until 2017 …… and then just [fell] off a cliff huh? Okay,” Bell wrote.

The 29-year-old Bell’s sarcasm ignores that there is plenty of historical NFL evidence to suggest running back production does dramatically fall off a cliff around age 30.  

When one fan suggested he got what he wanted out of the Jets, Bell replied, “money wise, somewhat. other than that, hell no.”

Le’Veon Bell seemed to be taking shots at his former Jets coach Adam Gase.  

Bell did not criticize the Jets when he was available to the media before the Super Bowl. No longer worried about creating a distraction for his teammates, he spoke his mind on the Jets not putting him in position to succeed with the play-calling.

 

 

“I don’t consider a ‘HB dive’ on 3rd & short [or] 4th & short EVERY TIME is an opportunity…we line up & they callin out the play, that’s not opportunity,” Bell wrote. “On top of the play being a dive…I can’t make sh*t shake with that.”

[Beerfish]

Took a year off and got old.

Having said that some of his comments are 100% correct, Gase is the worst offense coach this league has seen in some time.

[joewilly12]

1 minute ago, Beerfish said:

Took a year off and got old.

Having said that some of his comments are 100% correct, Gase is the worst offense coach this league has seen in some time.

Adam Gase should never coach football again in any capacity. 

[Bronx]

I saw this article and truthfully nothing surprising. We can only look forward and forget our disastrous regime of Gase and Mac.

[slats]

Adam Gase was right about not wanting to sign Bell, so at least he has that going for him. The elite talent is toast. 

[Untouchable]

Dude might as well retire at this point

He looked like sh*t in Kansas City with arguably the most talented offensive roster in the league.

I doubt anyone brings him in

[The Crusher]

100% spot on, kinda old now though, hopefully he gets a chance. Good luck LeVeon. 

[jetsons]

31 minutes ago, joewilly12 said:

Le’Veon Bell blames Jets for everything as he languishes in free agency

By Ryan Dunleavy

May 28, 2021 | 2:29pm | Updated 

 

Le’Veon Bell is finished taking the high road on his disastrous time with the Jets.

In a series of Tweets responding to followers on Thursday, the free-agent running back said he will sign with a team this season and suggested the downturn in his career was the fault of former Jets coach Adam Gase’s play-calling.

Bell wrote, “I’ll sign somewhere when IM ready…ain’t no more finessing me with lies and s–t just to get me to sign with they team…no more rushed decisions on my end, period…”

Bell was on a Hall-of-Fame track through five seasons with the Steelers but sat out all of 2018 due to a contract dispute. He signed a four-year, $52.5 million contract with the Jets but was cut before finishing his second season and wound up as a backup for the Chiefs who did not touch the ball in Super Bowl 55.

“lol the only difference with the steelers was they gave me opportunity… haven’t had that since I left,” Bell wrote. “I probably need to play for a defensive minded head coach instead of these offensive minded guru’s …”

That seems to be a shot at Gase, whose relationship with Bell was never on solid ground. It is well known that Gase did not want to sign Bell as a free agent. And then his usage of Bell never matched the contract.

As Bell pointed out to one fan, he had more offensive touches with the 2017 Steelers than he did in 17 games over two seasons with the Jets.

“lol so I had elite talent alllllll the way up until 2017 …… and then just [fell] off a cliff huh? Okay,” Bell wrote.

The 29-year-old Bell’s sarcasm ignores that there is plenty of historical NFL evidence to suggest running back production does dramatically fall off a cliff around age 30.  

When one fan suggested he got what he wanted out of the Jets, Bell replied, “money wise, somewhat. other than that, hell no.”

Le’Veon Bell seemed to be taking shots at his former Jets coach Adam Gase.  

Bell did not criticize the Jets when he was available to the media before the Super Bowl. No longer worried about creating a distraction for his teammates, he spoke his mind on the Jets not putting him in position to succeed with the play-calling.

 

 

“I don’t consider a ‘HB dive’ on 3rd & short [or] 4th & short EVERY TIME is an opportunity…we line up & they callin out the play, that’s not opportunity,” Bell wrote. “On top of the play being a dive…I can’t make sh*t shake with that.”

These writers just emphasize the negative with the Jets... bell was on the Chiefs & didn't even get 1 touch in the SB... the biggest game of the year,,, bell gives a snide remark about "offensive minded guru's" ... Plural... yet, Only gase is mentioned nothing with regard to Reid.... smh.

wound up as a backup for the Chiefs who did not touch the ball in Super Bowl 55.

 Bell wrote. “I probably need to play for a defensive minded head coach instead of these offensive minded guru’s …”

That seems to be a shot at Gase,

[munchmemory]

Bell is an absolute tool.  Threw away a great career in Pittsburgh to return as the consummate "meh" player with us and KC.  Go home.  Relax. Buy one of those devices that make a bunch of water balloons and make an afternoon of it.  

[Defense Wins Championships]

Adam Gase is the devil. 

 

[extmenace]

Bell went to the highest bidder. He missed out on a years worth of salary and decided that the fit / team didn't matter. It was all about the $$$. I remember reading reports that the jets were essentially in a bidding war with themselves. The ravens were interested but not at anywhere close to what the jets were offering. Nobody else wanted to pay up. He took a huge risk sitting out and while he got the pay day he wanted, he went to a team that could never utilize him to his potential. When its all said and done, sitting out that year got him the money he wanted when he hit free agency but it also limited his landing spots. Had he played out the year on the tag, he would have def had more options when he hit FA and would have never signed here (assuming he played the remaining 6-8 games for pitt and made it through the season healthy). I can't say for certain the risk paid off or failed because he did get the guaranteed money he wanted but it most certainly shortened his career.

[AlexVanDyke]

4 minutes ago, jetsons said:

These writers just emphasize the negative with the Jets... bell was on the Chiefs & didn't even get 1 touch in the SB... the biggest game the year,,, bell gives a snide remark about "offensive guru's" ... Plural... yet, Only gase is mentioned nothing with regard to Reid.... smh.

Agree.  It’s a pretty big shot at Reid too 

[dcJet]

F you Le'Veon.  EAD.

[joewilly12]

17 minutes ago, slats said:

Adam Gase was right about not wanting to sign Bell, so at least he has that going for him. The elite talent is toast. 

AG is too blame for the lack of production LB had here. 

AG let a personality conflict come between trying to win football games. 

He was poorly used in any all capacity here as RB and a pass catcher out of the backfield. 

Washed up Frank Gore saw more opportunities than LB ever had here. 

 

[Jetsfan80]

24 minutes ago, Untouchable said:

Dude might as well retire at this point

He looked like sh*t in Kansas City with arguably the most talented offensive roster in the league.

I doubt anyone brings him in

Seriously.  Was it all Adam Gase's fault he couldn't produce in the best offense in the game?

He should be sending Maccagnan love letters every day for handing him that bag when no one else would.

Alternatively, he could have taken a bit less to play for Indy.  He made the wrong call.  Deal with it, Le'Veon.  

[fullblast]

Took some subliminal shots at Adams there, as well. Always thought Bell was washed but I'll be rooting for him to catch on somewhere and make a comeback.

[Untouchable]

4 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

Seriously.  Was it all Adam Gase's fault he couldn't produce in the best offense in the game?

He should be sending Maccagnan love letters every day for handing him that bag when no one else would.

Alternatively, he could have taken a bit less to play for Indy.  He made the wrong call.  Deal with it, Le'Veon.  

Agreed

The guy is 29 and can walk away and live like a king for the rest of his life thanks to the Jets.

I was one of the goofs who was all in favor of throwing the bank his way. Never again.

Never pay more than $4-5 million a year for a back in FA and never take one in the 1st round unless you think you’re staring at a generational talent.

[jeremy2020]

28 minutes ago, munchmemory said:

Bell is an absolute tool.  Threw away a great career in Pittsburgh to return as the consummate "meh" player with us and KC.  Go home.  Relax. Buy one of those devices that make a bunch of water balloons and make an afternoon of it.  

He was a 'meh' player in Pittsburgh in a perfect situation. You don't sign those players because they can't reproduce that success elsewhere. 

Gase was bad, but so was Bell. 

[joewilly12]

9 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

Seriously.  Was it all Adam Gase's fault he couldn't produce in the best offense in the game?

KC one of the best offenses in the game agree. 

Clyde Edwards-Helaire much younger much faster. 

NY Jets one of the worst offenses  in the game we should have seen something positive out of him on this team. 

AG hindered all that. 

[Jetsfan80]

7 minutes ago, Untouchable said:

Agreed

The guy is 29 and can walk away and live like a king for the rest of his life thanks to the Jets.

I was one of the goofs who was all in favor of throwing the bank his way. Never again.

Never pay more than $4-5 million a year for a back in FA and never take one in the 1st round unless you think you’re staring at a generational talent.

And even then, just don't, lol.  He can be a guaranteed Bo Jackson/Barry Sanders combo and it matters not when injuries come around.  And they always do for RB's.  Maybe transcendent RB play for 3-4 years (at most) is worth it to some.  Not to me, if it requires an early 1st round pick to get it.

[jetsons]

33 minutes ago, AlexVanDyke said:

Agree.  It’s a pretty big shot at Reid too 

My point Exactly, but the writer Never mentions him.

[joewilly12]

[slats]

31 minutes ago, joewilly12 said:

AG is too blame for the lack of production LB had here. 

AG let a personality conflict come between trying to win football games. 

He was poorly used in any all capacity here as RB and a pass catcher out of the backfield. 

Washed up Frank Gore saw more opportunities than LB ever had here. 

 

Frank Gore still has more in the tank than Bell. 

[joewilly12]

3 minutes ago, slats said:

Frank Gore still has more in the tank than Bell. 

[KRL]

I was totally wrong about Bell, I thought he would be fresh and would
recover his form after laying off a year.  But this is sour grapes
because if he still had "it" Bell would have dominated when he went
to KC.  He could barely get on the field

[Lith]

Other factor that i have not seen brought up is the way he was used in Pittsburgh.

406 total touches in 2017.  740+ touches over the two years 2016-17 combined.  Next highest touches was Todd Gurley with ~660 touches.  Gurley has also fallen off a cliff.  Only so many hits a guy can take without it taking a toll.  RBs get old awfully quickly.  

Gase used Bell poorly..  Bell is done.  Both statments can be true.

[rangerous]

1 hour ago, Beerfish said:

Took a year off and got old.

Having said that some of his comments are 100% correct, Gase is the worst offense coach this league has seen in some time.

he didn't do well on the jets and that's at least partly on gase but at the same time he didn't exactly light it up for reid and kc.  the thing is people never seem to want to give gase for things he did right and keeping bell on the bench may have been one of them.

[Mike135]

He's right.  I see nothing wrong with this.

Actually surprised Bell didn't speak up sooner.

[jetstream23]

1 hour ago, joewilly12 said:

Jets fans blame Jets for everything as they languish in sports fandom abyss

 

I want my pound of flesh!!!

[Dcat]

Lev Bell crying. His crying has me laughing.

[freestater]

Gimmie more. Adam Gase was an absolute disaster 

[mrcoops]

2 hours ago, slats said:

Adam Gase was right about not wanting to sign Bell, so at least he has that going for him. The elite talent is toast. 

Gase wanted the Jets to sign Tevin Coleman, if I remember correctly.

Got his wish, just 2 years late and while unemployed.

[FidelioJet]

He is far too slow to be an effective NFL RB anymore.

Piling on Adam Gase reeks of desperation.    

Is Andy Reid a bad coach too? 

 

[T0mShane]

2 hours ago, Beerfish said:

Took a year off and got old.

Having said that some of his comments are 100% correct, Gase is the worst offense coach this league has seen in some time.

Now do Andy Reid.

[T0mShane]

I’m old enough to remember when Jets fans and media were hugely confused as to why Adam Gase couldn’t build an offense around Sam Darnold and Leveon Bell..