Le’Veon Bell’s first season with the Jets was unsuccessful on the field and it played out with a narrative that head coach Adam Gase didn’t particularly want him on the roster.
Bell signed with the Jets when Mike Maccagnan was still the team’s General Manager, but Maccagnan was fired before last season and reports that Gase didn’t want to sign Bell popped up throughout the year. That led to chatter about the team trying to trade the running back this offseason, but Bell downplayed any issues between him and the coach.
“Everybody blowing everything out of proportion,” Bell said, via TMZ. “Water under the bridge -- we’re fine. We good . . . Jets for four more years unless something drastic changes.”
Bell’s actually under contract for three more years and it becomes possible for the Jets to move on without hurting their cap too much after the 2020 season. There’s a lot to play out before reaching that point and that makes it likely that this won’t be the last time we check in on the relationship between Bell and Gase.