Saints Nation: Saints Decline to Match Offer Sheet, Mike Bell officially an Eagle

Mike Bell's call of duty with the New Orleans Saints has officially come to an end, as the team decline to match the offer sheet the Philadelphia Eagles signed him to. Mike Bell is now officially a member of the Eagles, and because of the level the Saints tendered Bell at, they will receive no compensation. It's really sad to see Bell go because he was one of the really good guys on the team last year from a character perspective. Despite an extremely fast start in terms of performance last year, he flamed out as the season wore on, in large part due to injuries he was playing with. Ultimately, the emergence of Lynell Hamilton during the tail end of the season is likely what made the Saints feel that Bell was expendable.

Like Fujita, I think Bell's play on the field is replaceable, so while this is a loss, I don't think it's a monumental loss. Still, I will greatly miss the power, aggression and purpose Bell ran with every time he touched the ball. If he's healthy, the Eagles have gotten a good back at a great price. The Saints' current financial situation is as much to blame for Bell's departure as anything else, and that's really too bad.Good luck to you with the Eagles Mike, and thanks for playing such a big part of the Saints' title run!

Saints Nation: Mike Bell to Eagles?

According to Nola.com, the Eagles have offered running back Mike Bell an offer sheet that he's likely to sign by tomorrow. I'm going to go ahead and spare you the suspense: with Brian Westbrook gone my guess is that it'll be for a decent chunk of change and the Saints will decline to match it. Seven days from now I see Mike Bell as officially becoming an Eagle. Sadly, the Saints tendered Bell at the lowest possible figure so they'll get no compensation for losing him, but they will have seven days to match the offer sheet if they want to keep Bell. I don't see that happening because the Saints' have a massive payroll and a lot of really good young players that they want to lock up. Bell lost a lot of playing time late in the season to Lynell Hamilton, too, so my guess is they'll live with losing him because they trust Hamilton can handle his workload. Perhaps the Saints will also trust Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush more next year in a two back system. Also, consider that of the four backs the Saints relied on last year, three were undrafted (Pierre Thomas, Mike Bell, and Lynell Hamilton). I think the Saints believe they can get a quality running back replacement through the draft or even afterwards without breaking the bank, so I think Mike Bell is a goner. I'm sad because I love the intensity and passion that Bell plays with. He's only been a Saint for a short time but he was a big part of our early season success, and he's an important piece. I hope I'm wrong, but I just think the writing is on the wall. If he does leave, I wish him nothing but the absolute best in Philly.

Saints Nation: More New Orleans Saints Players Tendered

Several more of the restricted free agent Saints players have been offered contracts. The tenders are as follows per Nola.com:

Jammal Brown: 1st and 3rd round tender compensation
Roman Harper: 1st round tender compensation
Pierre Thomas: 2nd Round tender compensation
Lance Moore: 2nd Round tender compensation
Anthony Hargrove: 3rd Round tender compensation

Per Nola.com: "They also offered undisclosed deals to defensive tackle Remi Ayodele, linebacker Marvin Mitchell, safety Chris Reis, tight end David Thomas and receiver Courtney Roby."

This leaves the following restricted free agents not yet tendered: Mike Bell, Jahri Evans (pictured), Leigh Torrence, Jeff Charleston and Kyle Eckel.

In all cases I think the Saints are pretty safe in that they can match any offer made to any player they've already tendered. I'd say that the player most at risk is Pierre Thomas, who could easily be worth a 2nd rounder in the eyes of some teams. As mentioned previously, though, the Saints could match any offer sheet he signs. The fact that the Saints have yet to tender Mike Bell is somewhat surprising. They have until March 4th to formalize all of their offers, so there's a chance he could still be made an offer by them. Some speculation has been made that the Saints are letting him go to open up the roster space for Drew Brees' former teammate and long time friend LaDainian Tomlison. I'd say that at this point that's a little premature.

As for Jahri Evans, rumor has it the Saints are working on a long term extension. Evans is arguably the best offensive guard in the NFL, and there's is absolutely zero chance of the Saints letting him go anywhere. I think it's safe to assume that, at the very least, he'll be offered a 1st & 3rd round compensation level tender like Jammal Brown, if the two sides can't agree on a long term deal first.