Le'Veon Bell's Jets tenure has been rocky, with head coach Adam Gase seemingly unhappy from the get-go with how much they spent to sign him and GM Joe Douglas refusing to rule out a trade.
But Bell, who is entering the second year of a four-year deal worth $52.5 million, seems confident he's staying put.
"Jets for four more years unless something drastic changes," Bell told TMZ Sports. "We'll see."
Bell, who has three years left on his deal, probably meant to say "Jets for three more years," but the point stands.
The 27-year-old, who was the subject of trade rumors before the deadline last season, said that kind of thing "doesn't really phase" him anymore and that everything is now fine with Gase.
"Me and coach Gase had our exit meeting, it was fine," Bell said, adding that "everybody blows everything out of proportion."
Several teams called Douglas near the deadline to see if he'd be willing to part with Bell. Douglas didn't hang up the phone on them, but was looking to be blown away in order to make a deal. The Chiefs were among the strongest suitors.
Shortly after the season ended, Gase deferred to Douglas when it came to Bell's future. And Douglas would not rule out a trade.
"My personal experience with Le'Veon has been very positive," Douglas said. "He's done everything we've asked him to do as a person, as a teammate. ... he's one of our best workers, he's one of our best teammates. He connects and engages with everybody, so I can't say enough positive things about Le'Veon."
Pushed further on whether he would be open to trading Bell, Douglas did not say no.
"Like I said before, if teams do call, I'm gonna listen," he explained. "How those conversations go, I can't speak to that. That's hypothetical. When teams call, I will listen."
Aside from relatively poor play in his first season with the Jets, Bell's year was further marred by backlash resulting from bowling after being diagnosed with the flu.
Bell has a cap hit of $15.5 million in 2020, $13.5 million in 2021, and $15 million in 2022, before being eligible for unrestricted free agency.