Le’Veon Bell To Sign With Chiefs
The Chiefs have won the Le’Veon Bell sweepstakes. The two-time All-Pro running back agreed to a deal to sign with the defending Super Bowl champions, Tom Pelissero and Jim Trotter of NFL.com report (on Twitter).
Bell considered the Bills and Dolphins as well, and the Dolphins were believed to have offered a two-year deal. But the Chiefs, who were on the verge of an agreement with Bell on Wednesday night, have landed the recently released back.
It is a one-year contract with incentives, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter and SI.com’s Albert Breer (Twitter links). Bell indeed was hoping to catch on with a contender, per Schefter. After spending parts of two seasons with a struggling Jets team, the former Steelers standout will be back in a playoff race.
This will give Clyde Edwards-Helaire an experienced tandem partner, with this Bell agreement putting him on track to take over for Darrel Williams and Darwin Thompson as the rookie’s top backup. But while 2019 late-summer free agency addition LeSean McCoy could not stick as Damien Williams‘ backup, Bell was prioritizing fit in an offense. It seems likely he will see a significant role alongside Edwards-Helaire.
While McCoy had strong track records on two teams, Bell bombed with his second franchise. Adam Gase did not want the running back at the $13.25MM-per-year price, and the Jets fit indeed turned out to be poor. The former Steelers dynamo lumbered for a career-low 3.2 yards per carry in 2019. This season, he suffered a hamstring injury in Week 1 and missed three games. Upon return in Week 5, Bell did average 4.62 yards per tote. That is a small sample size, but the showing may have reignited the Jets’ efforts to deal Bell. No takers emerged, and the team cut its losses with a Tuesday release. Bell will land with a much better offense.
Kansas City’s offense now houses five former first-team All-Pros — Bell, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Mitchell Schwartz and Tyreek Hill. (This number would have been six had ex-Bell teammate Kelechi Osemele not suffered severe knee injuries Sunday.) While this was the case last year with McCoy as well, the 28-year-old Bell brings lower mileage to Kansas City. Aided by his skipping the 2018 season in a franchise tag dispute with the Steelers, Bell has 1,874 career touches. McCoy had over 2,800 when he signed with Kansas City.
Bell will need to prove he still has upper-echelon ability; he did not record a 20-yard run as a Jet. His most recent 100-yard rushing game came in 2017; the former second-round pick never cleared 90 rushing yards in a Jets game. As a Steeler, Bell posted 1,800-plus scrimmage yards three times en route to the 2014 and ’17 All-Pro teams. He added three 75-catch seasons in that span, so seeing how Andy Reid deploys him will be an interesting October NFL storyline.
The earliest Bell could make his Chiefs debut would be Week 7, with COVID-19 protocols requiring free agents to pass nearly a week’s worth of coronavirus tests in order to begin practicing with their new teams. The Chiefs face the Jets in Week 8.
Stephon Gilmore Returns To Practice
The Patriots are set to have both Cam Newton and their top defender back Sunday when they host the Broncos. Stephon Gilmore was back at Pats practice Thursday, having returned from his stay on the team’s reserve/COVID-19 list.
Newton and Gilmore each tested positive for the coronavirus, and these results led to the NFL postponing Week 5’s Denver-New England game to Week 6. Gilmore learned he tested positive Oct. 7. Two more Patriot players tested positive following the stars’ results. But both standouts are on track to return. In Gilmore’s case, he will be eligible to come back after not missing a game. Newton, who also returned to practice Thursday, missed the Pats’ Week 4 contest in Kansas City.
Gilmore helped the shorthanded Patriots stay close to the Chiefs for a while in their Week 4 loss. Last season, the former first-round pick intercepted six passes and became the first cornerback to win the defensive player of the year award in 10 years. The 30-year-old defender remains the anchor of New England’s top-flight secondary and received a pay bump earlier this year.
The Pats did not practice Wednesday but returned to their facility Thursday. After their game against the Broncos was rescheduled three times, it is currently slated to start at noon CT Sunday.
Jets Notes: Bell, Gase, Darnold, Anderson
Here is the latest from the Jets, beginning with some fallout from their disappointing Le’Veon Bell contract:
- Adam Gase took issue with Bell’s social media habits and was said to have expressed dissatisfaction with the running back last season. That was a two-way street, to a degree. Bell expressed disappointment in Gase’s game plans in 2019, per Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. Bell discussed the prospect of requesting a trade this offseason, should his Jets situation fail to improve, but decided instead to stay the course, Mehta adds. This, however, ended up being a moot subject — largely because of Bell’s disastrous contract. The Jets, who previously shopped Bell’s lucrative deal, released him Tuesday.
- The Jets will be without Sam Darnold again this week against the Dolphins. The team will hold its starting quarterback out of its Week 6 contest, giving offseason addition Joe Flacco another start. Flacco averaged just 5.9 yards per attempt in a 195-yard day against the Cardinals.
- By Sunday, Darnold will have missed seven career starts in his three-season NFL tenure. Durability may be a concern, even though Darnold’s absences have been related to two separate injuries and mononucleosis. The former No. 3 overall pick’s coverage recognition, however, has been a discussion point this season, per Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. The Jets will need to decide on Darnold’s fifth-year option by May, but they may be in position to draft Clemson prodigy Trevor Lawrence. More intel on Darnold will be necessary by season’s end, even if the team does not land the No. 1 overall pick.
- Robby Anderson‘s Panthers pact has thus far worked out well for Carolina. On a three-game win streak, the Panthers have seen the former Jets deep threat thrive in an all-around role. Anderson has eclipsed 99 receiving yards in four of Carolina’s five games and leads the team — by more than 100 yards — with 489. Anderson did not produce a 1,000-yard season with the Jets and intimated he prefers his Panthers role. “I love being in this system because for so long it was, ‘Oh, he’s only a deep threat,'” Anderson said during an interview with Josina Anderson (via Cimini). “It used to eat me up because I’m like, ‘I know what I can do.’ I love that I’m in this offense, where I really get to catch and run and play football.” Anderson signed a two-year, $20MM deal ($12MM guaranteed) with Carolina.
Latest On Le’Veon Bell, Dolphins
Although the Chiefs profile as a team that would give Le’Veon Bell a better chance to compete for a Super Bowl championship, he trains in Miami during the offseason. And the Dolphins are not bowing out of this pursuit.
The Dolphins are believed to have offered Bell a two-year deal, Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald tweets, noting that the team appears to be offering notable money as well. The Dolphins are indeed willing to dole out a “fair amount” of cash for the former All-Pro running back, Michael Giardi of NFL.com tweets.
The Dolphins hold more than $15MM in cap space; the Chiefs sit at $6MM-plus. The Chiefs believed they were on track to land Bell by Wednesday night; the Dolphins’ offer may well be holding up a Bell-to-Missouri pledge. Sean McDermott confirmed the Bills were looking into Bell, but nothing has emerged on this front over the past few hours.
Were Bell to sign with either team, he would have a chance to face the Jets. The Chiefs play the Jets in Week 8. While COVID-19 protocols would not allow Bell to join the Dolphins in a game this week, when they host the Jets, the AFC East teams’ second 2020 meeting comes in November. The Bills’ rematch with the Jets comes in Week 7.
Miami has used 2019 seventh-round pick Myles Gaskin as its primary running back as of late, doing so despite signing Jordan Howard and trading for Matt Breida this spring. Breida is a 2021 free agent, while Howard can be released free of dead-money charges next year.
Bengals Place DE Sam Hubbard On IR
After being designated a non-starter for the first time since 2012, Carlos Dunlap appears headed back to the Bengals’ first unit. The Bengals placed defensive end Sam Hubbard on IR Thursday, sidelining the young pass rusher for at least three weeks.
An elbow injury will shelve Hubbard, who joined Carl Lawson as a Cincinnati D-end starter against Baltimore. Hubbard has played at least 60% of the Bengals’ defensive snaps this season, operating as the team’s busiest defensive lineman.
The Bengals have used Hubbard, a 2018 third-round pick, as a starter since last season. The Ohio State product registered a career-high 8.5 sacks last season. This placed second on the team behind Dunlap, who recorded nine.
Dunlap voiced frustration about his recent demotion, but Hubbard’s injury should lead to the Bengals’ all-time sack leader being back in the starting lineup in Week 6. Dunlap, who has made 115 starts in his 11-year career, played a season-low 46% of Cincinnati’s defensive snaps in Week 5 but did record his first sack of the season.
Titans Activate Jeffery Simmons From Reserve/COVID-19 List
The Titans are steadily seeing key players return to action after the team’s coronavirus outbreak. Top defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons is now back on Tennessee’s active roster after testing positive for COVID-19. This move follows the Titans’ activations of DaQuan Jones, Kristian Fulton and Adam Humphries.
Simmons landed on the Titans’ COVID list Oct. 3 but is now on track to play in Week 6. He will have missed only one game, with the Titans’ scheduled Week 4 contest against the Steelers having been converted to a bye week after the team’s issues with the virus.
Tennessee selected Simmons in the 2019 first round and saw the Mississippi State product bounce back quickly despite tearing his ACL before the ’19 draft. Likely a top-10 pick prior to the injury, Simmons has flashed as an interior defender in his limited time as a pro. In his most recent game, Simmons registered three QB hits and recorded a sack.
However, the Titans will be without one of their backup running backs for at least three weeks. They placed Darrynton Evans on IR to make room for Simmons’ return to the 53-man roster. A hamstring injury will sideline Evans, a rookie third-rounder out of Appalachian State. Drafted after the Titans cut Dion Lewis, Evans has just five carries this season. Jeremy McNichols resides as the only other back on Tennessee’s active roster, making it likely the team will make a move to add another player at this spot by Saturday’s transaction deadline.
Latest On Le’Veon Bell
The Chiefs are one of three teams leading the Le’Veon Bell chase. Last night, they thought they had it wrapped up. Sources tell NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo (on Twitter) that the Chiefs believed that Bell would sign with them after they spoke with his camp on Wednesday. 
That’s not to say that the Chiefs are out of the mix. In fact, they’re still very much in it, along with the Bills and Dolphins. There’s just more work to be done, if they want Bell to join Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Darrel Williams, and Darwin Thompson on their RB depth chart.
The Chiefs, who started off 4-0 before falling to the Raiders, rank eleventh in yards per carry average. Edwards-Helaire leads the pack with 344 yards and an average of 4.2 yards per tote. Beyond the rookie, however, they could use some veteran support. Kansas City made a somewhat similar move last year, signing LeSean McCoy after the Bills cut him. While McCoy played decently in spurts last season, the Chiefs made him a healthy scratch in Super Bowl LIV. Bell, however, is four years younger than McCoy and has logged more than 1,000 fewer touches.
Bell gained nearly 2,000 total yards in 2017, a year in which he was franchise-tagged by the Steelers. Then came the holdout, followed by his forgettable stretch with the Jets. The Chiefs could give Bell a prime opportunity to get back to his old form and capture another Super Bowl ring.
Now 28, Bell has not shown top form since than ’17 season. In a 2019 slate in which he averaged a career-low 3.2 yards per carry, Bell lacked the spark he displayed with the Steelers. He suffered a hamstring injury in Week 1 of this year, leading to a three-week stay on IR. However, Bell did average 4.6 yards per tote against the Cardinals on Sunday. This led to a last-ditch Jets push to trade him. But that effort did not last long. They cut him Tuesday.
The Bills and Dolphins are also believed to be in on Bell. Buffalo has relied on second-year back Devin Singletary this season, with rookie Zach Moss battling an injury. Bell would certainly supply the Bills with experience and a pass-catching pedigree their backfield lacks. The Dolphins would not profile as the kind of contender Bell reportedly seeks, but the veteran back trains in Miami during the offseason and has a home in south Florida.
Regardless of which team signs Bell, he would need to go through the enhanced coronavirus protocols with his new team. The earliest he could possibly play again would be Week 7, and that would depend on how quickly he signed.
Bengals’ A.J. Green: I Don’t Want To Be Traded
A.J. Green left Sunday’s loss to the Ravens early with a hamstring injury, and he walked off the field showing clear frustration. Some viewers thought they saw Green tell an assistant that the Bengals should trade him if they won’t use him properly, but the wide receiver says that’s not the case. 
“I’m just happy to be back out there,” said Green (Twitter link via Ben Baby of ESPN.com). “I know it’s going to come over time. . . . I don’t want them to force me anything.”
There was tension between Green and the Bengals this offseason as the veteran lobbied for an extension. But, after he missed the entire year with injury, the Bengals decided to table discussions with the 32-year-old. Instead, they used the one-year, ~$18MM tag to keep him for 2020. The two sides cannot resume talks until after the season is over.
Before last year, Green was a Pro Bowler in each of his first seven NFL seasons. And, in every season in which he’s played at least 13 games, he’s topped 1,000 yards receiving. So far this year, he has just 14 grabs for 119 yards through five games. Now, it sounds like he’ll be out for a while as he nurses a hamstring issue, but he hopes to remain in Cincinnati beyond the deadline.
The trade deadline falls a bit later than usual this year. Teams will have up until 4pm ET/3pm CT on Nov. 3 – which is also Election Day — to make deals.
Jaguars Release Cassius Marsh
The Jaguars have released linebacker Cassius Marsh, per a club announcement. Marsh was effectively squeezed out of Jacksonville on Wednesday, when the Jags acquired linebacker Kamalei Correa from the Titans.
Marsh, 28, appeared in 84 total games from 2014-2019 since being selected by the Seahawks in the fourth round. Capable of playing a hybrid defensive end/linebacker role, Marsh spent 2019 in Arizona, where he posted 2.5 sacks and five quarterback hits on 428 snaps.
The Jaguars inked him to a one-year deal with a modest guarantee of $600K back in March. He didn’t get a chance to make much of an impact with the Jaguars this year, tallying nine total stops in four games. Marsh’s most notable work came in 2018, when he amassed 5.5 sacks for the 49ers. He also saw action on roughly 50% of the Niners’ special teams plays that year and he’s approached the 80% ST threshold in prior seasons.
As a vested veteran, Marsh is now free to sign with any NFL team.
Bills, Chiefs, Dolphins In On Le’Veon Bell
Le’Veon Bell is down to three teams, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The former Jets running back is deciding between the Bills, Chiefs, and Dolphins, and a deal could come together by the end of business on Thursday. Meanwhile, despite some speculation regarding the 49ers, head coach Kyle Shanahan says he’s not interested (via Cam Inman of the Mercury News). 
The Chiefs – who made a similar move by signing veteran LeSean McCoy last year – were quickly connected to the former All-Pro back. He’d make sense for the Chiefs, who are without Damien Williams due to his opt-out. Currently, KC features Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Darrel Williams, and Darwin Thompson on the RB depth chart. Bell reportedly wants to play for a winner after escaping New York, so the Chiefs would be a logical fit for him.
The Dolphins would provide Bell with an instant opportunity for revenge against Adam Gase, as they face the Jets on Sunday. The Bills and Chiefs play the Jets on Week 7 and Week 8, respectively, so he’d get to face his former club with any of these three teams. Bell would support Myles Gaskin as the lead rusher in Miami and support Devin Singletary in Buffalo.
Bell underperformed in 2019 and reportedly clashed with team brass. He averaged just 3.2 yards per carry and his 66 catches for 461 yards out of the backfield weren’t nearly enough to offset that lack of efficiency. This year, he suited up in just two games before his divorce with the Jets. Before all of that, and his infamous Steelers holdout, Bell notched 1,291 yards off of a league-high 321 carries in 2017. He also reeled in a career-high 85 catches for 655 yards and scored eleven all-purpose touchdowns.