Updated odds make Colts the new favorites to sign Le’Veon Bell in 2019

With Le’Veon Bell seemingly quite likely to be playing football for a team not named the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2019, it’s no surprise to discover the oddsmakers are already taking bets on where he’ll end up next year. The New York Jets were installed as the initial favorites when the market opened earlier in the offseason, but it would appear we now have a new favorite just halfway through the 2018 preseason.

Based on the odds from Bovada.lv, the Indianapolis Colts are the new favorites to sign Bell next season, while pushing the Jets down to second favorites along with Pittsburgh. The Steelers’ price hasn’t changed from their initial offering.

The Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns have also seen their odds shorten from an early line of +600, as have the Houston Texans who were previously listed at +700 and the Oakland Raiders who were originally at +900. The Arizona Cardinals and Buffalo Bills are the only two teams on the list to have drifted in the betting from +1100 and +1200 respectively.

There can be little dispute that Bell would represent an upgrade at running back for all of the teams named among the favorites, although it would be fair to question the value for the Bills and the Cardinals, given the talents they’ve already got at the position.

Pairing Bell with T.Y. Hilton and a healthy Andrew Luck would give the Colts an impressive trio on offense, and they certainly appear to have the funds to afford him — projected to have more $62 million in available salary cap space in 2019 according to OverTheCap.com. However, Indianapolis doesn’t seem like a big enough market for the football player/rapper, so signing with a team like the New York Jets is probably more likely for Bell next year.