One of the fallouts from the firing of Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan has been reports of coach Adam Gase not being fully on board with signing free-agent running back Le’Veon Bell in March.
The Post reported Gase did not think the Jets should pay as much as they did for Bell when they signed him to a four-year, $52.5 million contract, though he thought Bell was a good player. Other outlets reported Gase did not want Bell at all.
Gase addressed those reports Thursday.
“We signed him. I’m excited we have him,” Gase said. “I’ve been in constant communication with him. Discussions happen and, to me, when you’re going through free agency … we signed a lot of guys. You’re trying to put together a big puzzle. You’re trying to figure out money, fit, locker room, all those things. There’s just a lot of things that go into all that stuff. Discussions are had. Whether or not we disagreed [on] anything … financially, that’s a completely different story than the person or the player. That’s where a lot of this gets misconstrued.”
Gase emphasized he is happy to have Bell on the team. Bell has not been present for much of the voluntary offseason program. He was around for the first week in April but has been training on his own in Florida since.
“Le’Veon Bell is a great player,” Gase said. “He is a good person. He’s been in constant contact with me. I enjoyed my interaction with him when he was here, when he came on his visit for his physical, when we signed him, when he was here for the beginning of phase one. He texts me all the time. All that stuff you get on Instagram, I get it first. That’s how I know what he’s doing.”
Gase said he does not believe the Jets overpaid Bell.
“I’m excited to get him in the offense so I can figure out what else can we do with him, what hasn’t he done, what can he be great at in this system,” Gase said.
There also was a report the Jets would consider trading Bell before he even plays a down for them.
“That’s ridiculous,” Gase said.
NFL Network reported Gase also had an issue with the Jets signing C.J. Mosley to a five-year, $85 million deal in March. But sources said Gase really wanted Mosley and pushed the team to sign him.
Gase knocked down the idea that he had any concerns about signing Mosley for big bucks.
“Those words never came out of my mouth on him,” Gase said. “We did everything we could to get him. I think I took a pay cut. Whatever we had to do get him, that’s what we wanted to do.”
Mosley was asked about the report Gase was unhappy with his salary, and he said Gase told him basically to ignore the media.
“It doesn’t matter,” Mosley said. “I’m here now.”