Former Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell is responding to criticism that his signing is part of the reason the Jets blew up their front office Wednesday.
Sort of.
The Jets fired general manager Mike Maccagnan and vice president of player personnel Brian Heimerdinger on Wednesday. Head coach Adam Gase will take over as acting GM. It is reported by the New York Daily News that Gase would like Eagles vice president of player personnel Joe Douglas to take over the job.
Daily News Jets beat writer Manish Mehta went on to tweet that a disagreement over signing Bell was a major reason why there was a rift between Maccagnan and Gase.
One disagreement between Adam Gase and Mike Maccagnan/Christopher Johnson…
Gase absolutely did not want to sign Le’Veon Bell, per sources. In fact, he made it clear that he didn’t want to spend a lot of money on any running back.
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) May 15, 2019
You may be stunned to learn that the New York papers are having a good time with this.
Tomorrow’s @NYDailyNews Back Page: The Jets are back to being a dysfunctional laughingstock… and they have nobody to blame but themselves.
Story: https://t.co/NA6PkHDzD3
Back Page: pic.twitter.com/vP83dv1gnk
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) May 16, 2019
And Bell isn’t exactly rushing to deny the story. Based on his tweets, he’s leaving some room open for the possibility that the story may be true.
Even if reports are true, that won’t stop me from doing what I came here to do…everyone has a job to do, and I’m gonna do mine whether peopIe “like” me or not. I’m here to win football games.
— Le’Veon Bell (@LeVeonBell) May 16, 2019
Basically, Bell is trying to tamp down the story. Yet, he is not putting a pin in the balloon by any stretch. Those comments are a far cry from Bell saying he and Gase are in lockstep or on the same page.
Bell could’ve done just that in another follow-up tweet.
So what now? Some in the sports media business are forecasting a gloomy future for Bell and Gase.
So Le'Veon Bell walked away from $14.5 million last year with a coach that wanted him and now will play for $14.5 million this year with a coach that doesn't want him. Got it. #Jets
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) May 15, 2019
Not saying the Jets should or would do this but curious on opinions on strategy here- Could the Jets get a 1st rounder if they traded Bell after having prepaid $12M on deal? Team acquiring would owe $16M over next 2 years. Should either side do that deal? What about for a 2?
— Jason_OTC (@Jason_OTC) May 16, 2019
Giants: “We’re the biggest joke in New York.”
Jets: “Hold our beer”https://t.co/DnysFqg1sq
— Daily Snark (@DailySnark) May 15, 2019
Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, while the Jets are holding the Giants’ beer, we’re holding our popcorn — just dying to watch this play out.
