Here’s the thing... Bell was offered $7.5M annually and he rejected it. The Saints have their number and Bell has his... His was too much for the Saints.
Bell is a good player, and I’ll miss seeing him with our boys... but he is not an elite SS. I loved his fire and his nose for loose balls and tenacity in run support.. but...
Bell was/is slightly below average in coverage.
Also, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson has all the same skills as Bell, only he’s faster and better in coverage. Jenkins comes in as an immediate upgrade over Bell (even though Bell and Jenkins’ arrows are pointing in opposite directions). Jenkins makes the secondary better now.
When Jenkins moves on, Gardner-Johnson will be entering his prime, and I fully expect CJGJ to be among the elite SS’s in the league.