New Orleans Saints: Vonn Bell wants to re-sign with Saints

The New Orleans Saints should re-sign Vonn Bell, and if it’s for the right price, you can almost bank on the team’s starting safety returning.

Vonn Bell, the New Orleans Saints starting safety, joined NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on the RapSheet + Friends podcast. With Rap, he was able to give fans a deep dive into his free-agent plans.

The one thing that Saints’ fans can look at and cling to is the fact that Bell wants to stay in New Orleans. The Big Easy has been the only NFL home that the 25-year-old Bell has known after spending his four collegiate seasons with the Ohio State Buckeyes.

That said, he wants to stay, but as is natural with free agency, there are no guarantees. The Saints could low-ball Bell. They could not value him as another team does, and he heads elsewhere. But, at the end of the day, Bell wants to stay.

“First and foremost, I want to go back, but we have to see what happens. You always want to go to a contender. I’ve been spoiled the last few years, going to the playoffs each year. You want to go to that. You always want to have a chance in the big dance and go get it. You always want to have a good culture, good standing program, club. We’ll see what happens,” Bell said.

Coming into his own this season, Bell put up career numbers. His fourth season in the league, Bell started 13 games, recording his first career interceptions to go along with 86 combined tackles and 63 solo tackles.

It was his fumble recoveries that really stuck out. He notched five of them, more than double his previous career total. Entering 2019, he had two recoveries in his first three seasons. In 2019, he even was able to take one back for a touchdown.

On top of those, Bell recorded 1.5 sacks in 2019.

Bell isn’t a top-tier free agent, but he’s certainly one that will garner attention around the league. His performances as the team’s primary strong safety were solid enough to attract teams with high levels of cap space.

At the end of the day, it’s reassuring to know that, if the Saints want Bell to return at a fair price, they’ll be able to re-sign him.