Le'Veon Bell isn't returning to the Pittsburgh Steelers this year. The feature running back did not sign the franchise tag contract tender provided this offseason by the Pittsburgh Steelers, and extending his contract holdout beyond Tuesday afternoon means he will become an unrestricted free agent in the 2019 offseason.
According to an online sports book, the odds are great he could become a Raider at that point.
The sports gambling website oddsshark.com, which takes its information from betonline.ag, an offshore sports gambling site which also houses an online casino, believes the Raiders have high odds of landing Bell this offseason. The Silver and Black have +500 odds to land Bell, according to the gambling website, second only to the New York Jets. The Jets have +300 odds to land Bell this offseason.
This information is not based on a report from any other publication covering the NFL, and there is no insight reported from any source about where Bell might sign.
Despite calls to betonline.ag by NBC Sports Bay Area, it remains uncertain how these odds were obtained.
The concept of Bell to the Raiders or Jets was popularized on Tuesday by the Twitter account @br_betting, which promoted odds of the Raiders being second in line to land the talented rusher, who has missed the entire 2018 season while holding out for a long-term contract despite being given a franchise tag contract tender worth $14.544 million.
According to NFL rules, Bell had to report to the Steelers by Tuesday afternoon and sign the tag or sit out the entire season. He chose to do the latter, but Bell will become an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
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Bell is easily one of the best professional running backs, with the tools to be considered a complete package. The Raiders are expected to have $83 million in salary cap space entering that season, though the total will decrease after signing players to reserves-futures contracts and earmarking more money for the NFL draft pool.
The Raiders chose to trade Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper over paying them in the near future, but have plenty of money to spend should they try to go after an big-ticket player like Bell.
It's uncertain at this time whether the Raiders have any interest in Bell. Contacting him or his agent at this point, according to NFL rules, would be considered tampering.
Bell could be a perfect fit for Raiders head coach Jon Gruden's offensive scheme, considering his ability to catch passes out of the backfield and running with patience behind an offensive line.
Bell has gained at least 1,200 rushing yards in three of the last four seasons, and has averaged 4.3 yards per carry this over his six-year career. He had 1,291 rushing yard, and 655 receiving yards and 11 total touchdowns in 2017.
