In search of potential offensive line help, the Chiefs conducted a workout for former Panthers tackle Byron Bell this week, a source tells Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post. The audition didn’t immediately result in a new contract for the free agent lineman.
Bell, 26, spent his first four NFL seasons with the Panthers, starting 56 of the 62 regular season contests he played for the club since 2011. In 2014, the New Mexico product was handed the reins at left tackle for the first time, and the results were not pretty. Bell graded out as the second-worst offensive tackle in football out of 84 qualified players, with a -33.4 overall rating, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Only Jake Matthews of the Falcons (-36.8) finished lower.
With the Panthers not interested in bringing back Bell, the veteran tackle hasn’t drawn much interest during the first few weeks of free agency. If the Chiefs were to bring him aboard, I imagine it would be to push Donald Stephenson for playing time at right tackle, or perhaps for a swing tackle role. Despite an up-and-down performance of his own in 2014, former first overall pick Eric Fisher looks like a fixture at left tackle in Kansas City.