Here are some thoughts as Day 1 of NFL free agency begins with the negotiating window opening at noon Monday:
1. One big factor in the Jets’ approach to free-agent running back Le’Veon Bell is that they do not want to be used as a negotiating tool. The free-agency scars are still fresh for the Jets from quarterback Kirk Cousins last year and linebacker D’onta Hightower the year before.
Cousins used the Jets to drive up the price with the Vikings. He even chronicled it in a documentary for the world to see with him speaking to his agent on the phone and then telling his wife the Jets had upped their offer, and he hoped Minnesota would do the same.