Le'Veon Bell says he would change one thing about how his tenure with the Steelers ended: he would switch positions.
On Thursday, Bell tweeted about Deebo Samuel's situation with the 49ers. The dynamic wideout demanded a trade this week, reportedly due to unhappiness with his role. San Francisco uses Samuel as a duel-option receiver and running back, which leads to great production, but also extracts an incredible physical toll.
If Samuel sits out the season, Bell says the 49ers will actively try to minimize his value. "If [Deebo] doesn't play this year, 1 thing the 49ers gon make sure of is to feed someone else the ball & make it seem as if they didn't need [Deebo]," Bell tweeted. "When in reality, we all know the truth…but if [Deebo] doesn't play, they'll try and make it seem like the "back up" is just as good …"
Legendary KDKA sports director Bob Pompeani responded to Bell's hot take with a burning question: "If you had to do it all over again, would you chose same course of action? Or stay in Pittsburgh?"
Bell, of course, sat out the 2018 season rather than play on the franchise tag for the second straight year, forfeiting $14.5 million. He signed a four-year, $52.5 million deal with the Jets in 2019, after turning down an offer from the Steelers in 2017 for five years and $72 million.
One of Bell's main contentions was that he should've been paid like a top running back and receiver, given his pass-catching abilities out of the backfield. During his last season with the Steelers, he ran the ball a league-leading 321 times, and caught 85 passes.
But alas, Bell was paid like a running back on the open market, not a wideout. When responding to Pompeani, Bell said he would be a receiver this time around.
That's a pretty good response, and one that holds a lot of truth. Now a free agent, the 30-year-old Bell is just looking for an opportunity.
