When it comes to the divorce between Le’Veon Bell and the Jets, general manager Joe Douglas already made his piece known in a statement shortly after Bell’s release.
That leaves the final word to head coach Adam Gase, who was very terse when asked about Bell’s departure in his weekly Wednesday Zoom call with the media.
"For whatever reason, it didn’t work out," Gase said, adding this when pressed about the notion Bell wasn’t utilized optimally: “It’s irrelevant at this point.”
There are many reasons why, less than two seasons into a four-year, $52.5 million deal, Bell officially became an unrestricted free agent at 4 p.m. Wednesday, and the Jets will owe him $6 million more to ostensibly be someone else’s treasure.
“It didn’t work out; I’m sure he’ll get an opportunity somewhere else, but we’ll see what happens,” was all Gase would say.
He also would only agree with what Douglas had already said: the Jets’ brass “came to a consensus” that it was best to part ways with Bell, and after a meeting between player, coach, and GM on Monday, Douglas solicited trade offers to no avail.
And so, Bell was released, and is now free to sign wherever he chooses.
"For us, we just felt it was best that we parted ways," Gase said. "It gives him an opportunity to go somewhere else. I want nothing but the best for him. Get an opportunity to go somewhere else and have success. It was a tough decision to make, but we felt like that was the best for us where we’re at right now.”
Oh, and as to the notion that Gase is an alienator, and not a motivator? The coach said the rest of his team is “in a good place” after Bell’s ouster, and the team is now “working on creating a culture that we’ve tried to build here in the last year.”
Anything, at this point, is better than the alternative.
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