The one reason Le’Veon Bell might work for the Kansas City Chiefs

There’s a bit of hype happening just before free agency opens that has Le’Veon Bell in a conversation with the Chiefs. Here’s why that could work.

There are two sides to this whole Le’Veon Bell thing.

Before we get into this, it might come as a surprise that we’re even discussing the former Pittsburgh Steelers running back in conjunction with the Kansas City Chiefs in the first place. If you missed some of the Chiefs-related anecdotes on Wednesday, it likely means you missed defensive lineman Chris Jones hanging out with Bell and others.

In the following exchange, Jones brings up free agency with Bell and the possibility of playing together. Bell screams, “What if I was in K.C. goin’ crazy there?” Something like that. You can transcribe it yourself here:

What ensued was Chiefs Twitter bursting into flames about the potential—or the backlash. Back to those two sides.

On the one hand, ignoring anything off the field, Kansas City Chiefs fans are intimately familiar with what Le’Veon Bell can do. It was the 179-yard rushing performance in 2017, which came on the heels of the postseason loss in 2016 that featured another 170 yards on the ground. Even when the Chiefs knew Bell would get the ball, there was no stopping him.

The patience, the burst, and the vision are second-to-none even at the highest level of professional football.

Then there’s the other side, the one that acknowledges the reality of this entire affair off the field. Bell is likely going to want plenty of money from a team that already has cap issues. If the offense is Versailles, then the defense is Beirut. Plus there’s the whole “don’t pay big money to a running back” maxim.

Adding Le’Veon Bell to the Chiefs feels like finishing a swimming pool in the back when you’re still sleeping on the couch because you haven’t finished the bedroom makeover. Or some such analogy. It’s luxury versus utility and the Chiefs haven’t exactly proven their defense is ready to be left unattended.

It’s easy to think of Bell as an unrealistic possibility given the hurdles in the way of signing him. But if there’s one single caveat in all of this, a lone asterisk in play that could make all of this work, it can be seen in the player himself.

Le’Veon Bell hasn’t done what anyone has expected this entire time.

Remember, Bell was widely criticized by anyone and everyone last year for sitting out the season. It made zero financial sense. You can argue it kept him fresh or you can say he’s rusty. It was very odd for a running back to walk away from a $14 million/season payday but that’s exactly what he did. Why? He felt like it.

Bell has already proven that he’s a player who doesn’t succumb to league norms. He’s left money on the table. He wasn’t simply bluffing that he would sit out the year. Bell has shown he’s willing to do whatever it takes to follow his interests, and he could care less what he is supposed to do.

Maybe the same mindset would carry over into free agency. If the Chiefs can’t offer as much as another franchise like the New York Jets, would that be okay? If any player might accept less to play where he wants, would it not be a player who’s already sat out a full year? Bell does what he wants to do. If he says he wants to play for the Chiefs, who’s going to stop him?

The bottom line here is that it does not make sense. The Jets or Colts especially can give him armored trucks filled with money and security for the long haul. On paper, it doesn’t work at all, and Chiefs fans have little reason to believe anything could really surface here.

But if there’s any fire behind this smoke, it’s only because Bell himself is a mystery. If he wants to play here, who is going to stop him?