I think there's a real possibility of it, and in the very near future.
Think about it: CEH wasn't supposed to be the RB1 this season anyway. He was supposed to back up Damien, and learn some things about how to be a professional, get some good practical reps throughout the season, and most importantly, be fresh for the playoffs.
Damien opting out is why CEH became the starter. But because of the drop off in performance between Clyde and Darrel/Thompson, Andy was using Clyde a lot. Maybe too much. The possibility of CEH hitting the Rookie wall was becoming more of a probability fwith each passing game.
Now Bell can provide all of those things listed above, while keeping Clyde on a kind of pitch count so that he's as fresh as possible come January.
Bell is a true top-tier 3-down back that can run, receive, and is one of the best pass protection backs on the field today. And this is the big selling point, IMO. One thing that I noticed yesterday was just how many times Patrick was getting hit. Bell's presence in the backfield should mitigate some of those hits.
And then there's his on-field presence. Defenses are going to have to approach him with more respect, simply because that's Le' Veon Bell. That aspect alone means that defenses won't be able to just come after Patrick as much, which means he should get hit less.
And we need Patrick to stay upright more, especially down the stretch so that he's fresh as possible for the playoffs.
And let's be honest: Bell is gone after this season. Andy has 8 weeks plus the playoffs to get the most out this deal, to exploit it and get everything he can from Bell before he loses him. And Bell needs to showcase his abilities and prove that he's not only still an elite RB but also that he's a good teammate, on a big stage down the stretch so that he can leverage a big contract in 2021.
The more I think about it, the more sense this makes.
I'm not saying it will happen, because I'm not on Andy's speed dial obviously, but I am saying that Andy should be considering it.
He will be 29 years old next year. Guessing he would like 1 good 3 year deal before he hits 30. Could be wrong. The easiest way to get that is to either force a trade and ink a deal with the new team or force the Chiefs to extend him at 3-4 mil for the next three, given CEH is the starter guess I am not seeing the extension. Awful risky playing on a 1 year deal probably below market value. Mostert did something similar this year and it makes business sense. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Shields68:
He will be 29 years old next year. Guessing he would like 1 good 3 year deal before he hits 30. Could be wrong. The easiest way to get that is to either force a trade and ink a deal with the new team or force the Chiefs to extend him at 3-4 mil for the next three, given CEH is the starter guess I am not seeing the extension. Awful risky playing on a 1 year deal probably below market value. Mostert did something similar this year and it makes business sense.
He doesn't really have any leverage. He has a year left on his deal.
If he really wants out, the Chiefs can just play him and let him go at the end of the year. [Reply]
Honestly, I feel like this happened because of depth more than anything else. If CEH were to go down before Bell arrived, you're only getting so far with Williams, Thompson and Washington.
Now if you have a healthy CEH or a healthy Bell with those other guys you are fine either way. And with all the backs healthy the pressure on opposing defenses is near unstoppable considering the passing attack.
Andy will figure out how to utilize and maximize production from his RBs. And no matter what happens, I don't think you'll see either Bell or CEH b1tching about it. Best case-scenario really. [Reply]
I honestly don’t see how we keep Bell in 2021. He’s closing in on 30 years old, and he’s going to want at least one more big payday contract. Which the Chiefs won’t be able to afford. Plus, Damien Williams is coming back next year. Add in all the potential problems with the salary cap in 2021 and I just don’t see how it would be possible for the Chiefs to hang on to Le’Veon Bell. [Reply]
At the very least you can see leveon getting a ton of snaps on third down, short yardage and Goal line. As well as closing out games. Add in dual back situations. If he's cool with that, it may not be sexy because I guess he's not technically a feature back but it'll get him plenty of reps, stats, and wins. [Reply]
Originally Posted by New World Order:
Run Bell into the ground during the year and have CEH fresh and ready to go for the playoffs.
Kind of this. Maybe it's a little cold-blooded, but the Chiefs' investment is to CEH, not Le 'Veon. And Bell probably wants to be the feature RB, because he has to show out in these 8 weeks or so, or there's no big contract for him in 2021.
Look, this isn't about CEH. It's not about whether he won his "spurs," and whether he deserves to be RB1. He's been doing fine, and i spent the whole season to this point saying he should be RB1 once Damien opted out, because he was far and away the best RB we had on the roster.
But the rookie wall is real, we've seen it countless times with other rookie RBs for as long as the NFL has existed. They hit that 12th or 14th game or so and they start to get fatigued, they can start to break down. If Andy wanted to ensure that Clyde was going to be healthy and fresh for the playoff push, he could just make Bell the workhorse down the stretch and keep CEH fresh for the playoffs.
But now we have a top-tier RB1 in Bell that we have for just this season, that can take on the bulk of the load over the next 8 games or so, and the Chiefs don't owe him anything beyond this season. This is the same as putting miles on a rental vs. putting the miles on your personal car. Either way you're putting the miles on something.
A hundred less carries (or whatever) probably is the difference between a rested and fresh CEH come the playoffs and a less fresh, probably more fatigued Clyde this winter. [Reply]
Andf I'm not advocating benching Clyde. In the scenario I envision Clyde would still be getting plenty of snaps, just not 25 snap/game. Roughly half maybe. Bell would pick up the other half, plus a few snaps from Darrel or Thompson. Let Bell run 20+ carries, and Clyde maybe 15. [Reply]
