Could Le'Veon Bell come out of retirement to play for the NY Jets?

Le'Veon Bell is attempting to make a comeback

Justin Fried

NY Jets, Le'Veon Bell / Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

The NY Jets are expected to be in the market for a veteran running back this offseason. Could the team reunite with a familiar face in Le'Veon Bell?

The short answer is...no. This almost certainly will not happen, but let's talk about it anyway.

In a series of Snapchat videos posted this past weekend, Bell insisted that he was eyeing a return to the NFL. Bell suggested that he plans to start training for his comeback in March but that he only plans to return to play for one team.

The three-time Pro Bowl running back didn't specify which team he was referring to, but it didn't take much to connect the dots. Obviously, Bell is referring to the Jets here. He wants the Jets to bring back Adam Gase so that he can run it back one more time with that Team of Destiny.

Or maybe he's referring to the team he spent most of his career playing with, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Yeah, that's probably it.

Le'Veon Bell is attempting an NFL comeback, but don't expect it to be for the NY Jets

The Jets already went the washed-up veteran running back route last year when they signed Dalvin Cook to a hefty one-year, $7 million contract in August. Cook received the largest AAV of any running back signed last offseason, and he received that money just a few weeks before the start of the season.

Cook proceeded to average a lowly 3.2 yards per carry before he was released by the Jets in January. There's no reason to believe that Bell would offer anything more than Cook did.

Bell last played in the NFL in the 2021 season, appearing in eight total games between the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He finished that year with 39 carries for just 101 yards, averaging an abysmal 2.6 yards per carry.

At his peak, Bell was the best running back in football and one of the most dynamic playmakers in the league. That peak was before he joined the Jets in 2019, however. Bell had very clearly lost multiple steps by the time he first stepped onto the field with New York.

That was five years ago. One can only imagine how much Bell has left in the tank in the present day.

The Jets should consider adding a veteran RB2 to replace Cook's role in 2024. Players like Derrick Henry, A.J. Dillon, Devin Singletary, and Zack Moss are realistic targets. Bell is not.

Le'Veon Bell is eyeing an NFL comeback, but it won't be for the Jets. And in all honesty, it's hard to imagine it'll be for any team.

Justin Fried

Justin Fried is an editor for FanSided who has over seven years of experience covering the NFL and various other sports. A diehard Jets fan since birth, Justin has served as the editor for The Jet Press since 2019, interviewing athletes such as Sauce Gardner, Curtis Martin, LaDainian Tomlinson, Joe Klecko, and many others. Justin has also worked closely with brands like Red Bull to help highlight the niche sectors of the sporting world. His four-part series on the sport of breaking remains one of his proudest pieces of work. In his spare time, Justin is an avid pro wrestling fan who is fortunate enough to have traveled to nearly 30 different countries.