Cleveland Browns: What would Le’Veon Bell cost in free agency?

Free agent to be Le’Veon Bell said it would cost the New York Jets $100 million to lure him in 2018 NFL Free Agency, so what would it cost the Cleveland Browns?

One of the highest profile free agents in 2018 also happens to play the position that the team with the most cap space has a dire need at. Running back Le’Veon Bell is set to hit the open market if the Pittsburgh Steelers can’t find some common ground with him, and the Cleveland Browns sure could use his services.

While they have more cap space than anyone, the Browns are 1-31 in the past two seasons so it wouldn’t be the easiest sell to a star like Bell. And the Steelers back already set the market in a round about way for what it would take to get him on a team that doesn’t have the best roster.

When being asked by New York Jets safety Jamal Adams about coming to his team, Bell hinted at it being in the range of $100 million. While the Jets haven’t been a good team lately, they won five times as many games in 2017 as Cleveland has in the Hue Jackson era, meaning their offer to him would have to be north of that even.

With some fans wishing for the team to somehow lure Bell, the question becomes what it would cost for him to even consider the team?

According to Spotrac, the market value for Bell is $10.7 million, which would make his deal somewhere in the range of a five-year $53 million deal. Him hinting at $100 million likely means those numbers would have to be doubled for him to consider the Jets, and perhaps even higher for him to consider the Browns — possibly even $25 million a year if his response to Adams was serious.

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Bell is a great running back, but we’re now talking quarterback money. There’s simply no way a running back is worth $100 million and Cleveland doesn’t even need to consider the option. Even if they technically could afford it and there are some who would love it.