Tampa Bay Buccaneers signing veteran RB Le'Veon Bell with Leonard Fournette likely out
Le'Veon Bell is joining his fourth team in the last two years.
With Leonard Fournette sidelined with a hamstring injury, the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers are signing Bell, pending a physical, according to multiple reports.
Fournette left the Buccaneers' loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night, and could miss the rest of the regular season. Fournette wasn't the only key Bucs player to suffer a concerning injury with the team trying to secure a top playoff seed in the NFC and attempting to defend its Super Bowl title. Wide receivers Mike Evans (hamstring) and Chris Godwin (torn anterior cruciate ligament) each left Sunday's game. Godwin will miss the rest of the season.
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Bell, who was a two-time first-team All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowl selection during his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers (2013-17), has had a vagabond existence since sitting out the 2018 season while in a contract dispute with the Steelers. Bell signed with the New York Jets in 2019, but was released on Oct. 13, 2020 and promptly picked up by the Kansas City Chiefs. Ahead of the start of the 2021 season, the injury-ravaged Baltimore Ravens signed Bell, who was released again on Nov. 16.
Bell's production has dropped significantly since leaving Pittsburgh, where he posted three 1,000-yard seasons and four in which he averaged four or more yards per carry. In his most recent stint with the Ravens, Bell carried the ball 31 times for 83 yards (a 2.7-yards-per-carry average) and two touchdowns.
The Buccaneers play the Carolina Panthers on the road in Week 16 with another opportunity to clinch the team's first NFC South crown since 2007. Receiver Antonio Brown, who was suspended three games for misleading the team about his vaccination status, should be available for the game. Brown and Bell played five seasons together in Pittsburgh.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Le'Veon Bell to sign with defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers
