49ers offered Le’Veon Bell a three-year, $40 million contract

If you are wondering who the San Francisco 49ers targeted early on in free agency, I think we may have found the answer. According to Le’Veon Bell, the 49ers were one of the final choices for the former Pittsburgh Steeler running back. In that article, Bell said his decision came down to signing with the New York Jets and San Francisco. The Niners offered Bell a three-year, $40 million contract, per the runner.

Bell ended up signing a deal with the Jets right around midnight late last week. He signed a four-year, $52.5 million deal. $35 million of that was guaranteed. The max value of that contract can go up to $61 million. There were no details on just how much guaranteed money the 49ers were willing to offer. I’d be interested to know how far off they were.

How would you have felt about signing Bell to the deal the team offered for say, $22 million guaranteed and $8.5 million of that comes in 2019, like Bell’s deal with the Jets? One of the beat writers were saying that the team values Jerick McKinnon as a great pass-catcher, and a good runner. Bell is obviously better than a good runner, but would he be worth the money?