Baltimore Ravens angling to steal Le’Veon Bell in free agency
By Erik Lambert
Everybody is looking at the big money teams with Le’Veon Bell about to hit free agency. The Baltimore Ravens are not considered among them.
Current projections have them at a modest $20 million in salary cap space following the extension of cornerback Tavon Young. It’s that maneuver though that raises questions regarding Bell, who happens to have the same agent as Young. That established relationship between him and new Ravens GM Eric DeCosta has apparently led to serious belief down at the scouting combine that Baltimore is expected to make a major push to grab the former Pro Bowler.
Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic broke it down. Few teams understand better what Bell can do than the Ravens. His talent is what they want, first and foremost. Yet it’s hard not to see a tiny bit of sweet twisting of the knife to their rival Pittsburgh Steelers were they able to make this happen.
"“That relationship seems relevant these days because Bakari just happens to represent a certain pending free-agent running back who terrorized the Ravens for years but is now suddenly and frequently being connected to them as free agency approaches. Le’Veon Bell sure would give the Ravens a dynamic playmaker to pair with Lamar Jackson.If you believe some of the buzz around Indianapolis this week during the NFL scouting combine, the Ravens have become one of the favorites to sign Bell, the longtime Pittsburgh Steeler who didn’t play last season as a result of a contract dispute.”"
There is plenty of logic behind the Ravens wanting to pursue Bell
Rivalries aside, this move makes plenty of football sense for Baltimore. They’ve found their established identity. They are going to be a running football team. Lamar Jackson has his limitations as a passer, but his mobility is dangerous. So Greg Roman, who crafted dominant rushing attacks around Colin Kaepernick and Tyrod Taylor, was promoted to offensive coordinator to do the same there.
The key though in those two previous instances was he had elite running backs. In San Francisco, he had the ageless Frank Gore and in Buffalo, he had LeSean McCoy. As of now, the Ravens have nobody of that caliber in their backfield. That would change the moment they were able to secure Bell. He’s absolutely in their league in terms of overall talent.
In fact, he might even be considered superior. His patience, strength, sneaky speed, and tremendous skill as a pass catcher can create plenty of opportunities to make that ground game a nightmare to stop. If Jackson can even modestly improve as a passer? Then this team instantly becomes a threat in the AFC.