With nothing seemingly out of the question for the Oakland Raiders, recent reports have suggested they have serious interest in signing Le’Veon Bell.
Bell has finally hit the market as a free agent following a brief hiatus from the NFL due to ongoing contract negotiations. While there is no shortage of interest in the three-time Pro Bowler, his lucrative asking price could prove to be a bit too steep for most teams.
Regardless, the Raiders have still emerged as potential frontrunners to land Bell’s services. However, even their pockets may not be deep enough to sign him.
According to ESPN’s Chris Mortenson, Oakland does not have the cash to sign Bell:
According to Chris Mortenson, the Raiders will probably not sign former #Steelers RB Le’Veon Bell because they don’t have enough real cash [not a salary cap issue]
There is certainly some truth to the report. The Raiders have done some major spending in the early days of the offseason. Not only did they make headlines with the acquisition of wide receiver Antonio Brown, but they also managed to sign left tackle Trent Brown to a four-year, $66 million deal with over $36 million in guarantees.
Pair that with Brown’s newly re-worked deal that also gives him $30 million guaranteed and the Raiders are not left with much real cash to spend. Despite having plenty of space in their salary cap, it does not appear as though they will be able to meet Bell’s lucrative demands this offseason.
As a result, this could put a damper in the Raiders’ initiative to suddenly bring in as much star power as possible after essentially parting ways with it last offseason. Regardless, it will be interesting to see if Oakland continues to monitor his situation moving forward.
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