Two members of Pittsburgh’s trio of “Killer B’s,” who had their best shot at going to a Super Bowl ended by Tom Brady in the 2016 AFC Championship Game, are now reunited in Tampa Bay to help the 44-year-old quarterback make a run at his eighth NFL championship ring.
With bell-cow running back Leonard Fournette likely headed to injured reserve with a hamstring injury that will keep him out until the playoffs and maybe longer, the Buccaneers have added former Steelers star tailback Le’Veon Bell to their depleted backfield.
Bell joins ex-Steeler wide receiver Antonio Brown in Tampa as part of a new Killer B’s trio that will feature Brady instead of Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Bell – who averaged just 2.7 yards per carry on 31 attempts earlier this year with the Ravens and scored two touchdowns in five games — will slot in join Ronald Jones and Ke’Shawn Vaughn in a running back room that is already missing Giovani Bernard in addition to Fournette.
A big-time name, Bell is no longer a big-time player as, in addition to being underwhelming during his time with Baltimore earlier this season in October and November, he ran 82 times for just 238 yards and two scores last season while splitting time between the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets. Bell was on the Chiefs’ roster for Super Bowl LV when Kansas City lost to Brady in the Buccaneers in February but did not record any snaps.
That didn’t stop the Bucs and head coach Bruce Arians from adding him to a roster that already includes a number of big names who are well past their primes such as Rob Gronkowski, Richard Sherman, Jason Pierre-Paul and Ndamukong Suh. Given how Tampa has built their team, Bell should fit right in and may even discover he has a little bit of gas left in the tank as many aging players have seemed to do after teaming up with seemingly ageless Brady.
Bell’s return to the NFL likely means that he won’t be stepping into a boxing ring with Jake Paul, something he recently said that he wanted to do.
With the way Paul has been fighting lately, that may actually be for the best for Bell. Plus, now he’ll have a chance at making a Super Bowl run with the guy who prevented him from getting to the big game at the end of the 2016 season and also denied him a ring back in February of this year.
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