The Buffalo Bills added seven players to their offense over the last three days and none of the names of those who agreed to terms or to which the team was linked were bigger than former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell. Bell signed with the New York Jets on Tuesday night, ended an odyssey that lasted over a year where he held out after being assigned the franchise tag.
On Tuesday, Josina Anderson from ESPN said the Bills were one of six teams still in the running for Bell.
When he entered his holdout with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bell reportedly wanted $17 million per year on a contract, with $45 million guaranteed. Instead, he signed a four-year deal worth a max of $61 million, just over $15 million per season. The deal includes $35 million guaranteed.
Buffalo’s rumored interest seemed strange with LeSean McCoy still on the roster and the recent signing of Frank Gore.
Tim Graham of The Athletic reported that the Bell-to-Bills talks were “Just rumors. Nothing to it,” according to his source.
Of course, if the Bills did have serious interest in Bell it would probably irritate their lead running back, so they would publicly deny any interest.