Buccaneers Signing RB Le’Veon Bell

Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the Buccaneers are signing RB Le’Veon Bell to a contract, pending physical.

Buccaneers RB Leonard Fournette suffered an injury on Sunday during their loss to the Saints. Tampa Bay will start Ronald Jones in his place, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to add some depth at the position. 

Bell, 29, is a former second-round pick of the Steelers back in 2013. He played out the final year of his four-year, $4,120,600 rookie contract, but Pittsburgh used their franchise tag on him.

The Steelers decided to franchise Bell for the second straight year, but he elected to hold out the entire 2018 season and set himself up for free agency in 2019. The Jets later signed Bell to a four-year, $52.5 million contract worth up to $61 million and including $35 million guaranteed.

Bell was set to make base salaries of $8 million and $9.5 million the next two years when the Jets released him last year. He later signed a one-year contract worth up to $1.69 million with the Chiefs. 

The Ravens signed Bell to their practice squad and eventually added him to their active roster. He was waived last month. 

In 2021, Bell has appeared in five games for the Ravens and rushed for 83 yards on 31 carries (2.7 YPC) to go along with one reception for -1 yard.

We had him included in our Top 100 Available 2021 Free Agents list.