[jwplayer jS5cALhU-ThvAeFxT]
Presenting our 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣0️⃣ CAPTAINS: @Vonn @G_Bernard25 @JoeyB @bynestime56 @ajgreen_18 @khuber10 @36SLY36 pic.twitter.com/nAwgaJKo6Q
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) September 9, 2020
The Cincinnati Bengals announced their captains for the 2020 season on Wednesday, and the lineup includes a former New Orleans Saints starter: Vonn Bell. The fifth-year safety left New Orleans in free agency earlier this year and immediately made an impact at Bengals training camp, at one point receiving a request from coaches to not thump his new teammates quite so hard.
But that kind of standout play earned Bell a spot on the Bengals leadership team, where he’s joining former LSU Tigers quarterback and 2020 first-overall draft pick Joe Burrow as a team captain. Props to Bell for hitting the ground running.
It took him some time to crack the Saints starting lineup after getting drafted in the second round out of Ohio State back in 2016, but Bell really came along in 2019 and paced the NFL with five fumble recoveries. But some messy contract talks didn’t work out with the Saints, who instead reunited with Malcolm Jenkins after his six-year stint with the Philadelphia Eagles, leaving Bell to sign for less money with the Bengals.
The Saints will not play the Bengals until 2022 when they draw the entire AFC North, unless both teams meet in the Super Bowl. That will be the third and final year of Bell’s current deal, and it’ll also be a homecoming for him and Burrow both — the Saints last made the trip to Cincinnati in 2018, meaning this next matchup will be in the Superdome. It’s quite a ways away, but it’ll be interesting to see how many of Bell’s old Saints teammates are still around.
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