The addition of free agent Le’Veon Bell, who agreed to a four-year, $52.5 million contract late Tuesday night, made Crowell expendable. The Jets were planning to release Crowell even if they didn’t sign Bell. This leaves Bell, Elijah McGuire and Trenton Cannon as their top three backs. Bilal Powell, the longest-tenured player on last season’s team, is a free agent and not likely to return.
Crowell, who turned 26 in January, was one-and-done with the Jets. After four seasons with the Cleveland Browns, he signed a three-year, $12 million contract ($4 million guaranteed at signing) and became the starting running back last season.
He rushed for 685 yards, six touchdowns and a 4.8-yard average, but it was an odd season in that one-third of his production came in one game. During a Week 5 victory over the Denver Broncos, he set the franchise record with 219 rushing yards.
The most amazing part about it was he needed only 15 carries — a remarkable 14.6 per-carry average. It was the highest average in a game (minimum 15 attempts) by any player in NFL history.
