Houston Texans should be early favorites for Le’Veon Bell in 2019

With their combination of roster structure, fit, and salary cap situation, the Houston Texans should be considered favorites for Le’Veon Bell in 2019…

As of the 2017 season, Le’Veon Bell’s usage was at an all-time high, and unfortunately for both he and the Pittsburgh Steelers, the 2018 season could be their last together.

Bell is reasonably unhappy about not getting a long-term contract from the Steelers, who have slapped him with the franchise tag each of the past two years.

Running backs in the NFL take more of a beating than just about any other position and Bell rightly deserves a long-term financial guarantee, given the Steelers put the ball in his hands a whopping 406 times last season.

With Bell undoubtedly moving on in 2019 at the age of 27, which teams will have interest in signing him?

That list could get pretty extensive, but the Houston Texans are a very interesting team that should be considered early favorites for the star running back.

There are a variety of reasons for that.

The Texans, first and foremost, have a very talented roster especially with some core pieces defensively.

Led by J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney, the Texans’ defense looks loaded for the 2018 season and they seem to have finally found the franchise quarterback to complement their defense.

DeShaun Watson was electric in the early portion of the 2017 season before going down with a season-ending knee injury.

Despite not having a first-round pick (they would have had number four overall) in 2018, the Texans had an excellent offseason and are positioned well to compete this season as well as going into the future.

Thanks to the favorable contract situation they now have at quarterback, the Texans are looking at a number of years going forward with some financial flexibility, including a projected $54.1 million in available cap space in 2019.

That number is assuming a roughly $10 million increase in each team’s cap space, as has become the norm of NFL teams.

In addition to that, the Texans can save roughly $6.5 million (with only a $1 million dead money charge) if they release veteran Lamar Miller after this season.

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If the Texans release Miller, that savings coupled with the projected salary cap increase will essentially pay for Bell in terms of a year one cap figure (roughly $16.5 million).

With Todd Gurley’s new contract re-setting the running back market around $15 million per season, the pressure will be on some NFL team from Bell’s camp to top that deal.

The Texans with DeShaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins, and a slew of young offensive and defensive talent should be an attractive option for Bell and could very well be the early favorites on paper to sign him when he hits free agency in 2019.