Pre-draft Bell attended the
NFL Scouting Combine in
Indianapolis, Indiana, but opted to skip the combine drills due to a hamstring injury. He chose to only meet with team representatives and had his measurements and weight taken. On March 11, 2016, he attended Ohio State's
pro day and performed the
40-yard dash, 20-yard dash, 10-yard dash, and
vertical jump for scouts and team representatives. He also attended private workouts and visits with multiple teams, including the
Minnesota Vikings,
Buffalo Bills,
Atlanta Falcons,
Los Angeles Rams,
Tampa Bay Buccaneers,
Jacksonville Jaguars,
Pittsburgh Steelers, and
Tennessee Titans among others. Bell was projected to be a second round pick by
NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked the second best safety prospect in the draft by NFL analyst
Mike Mayock and ESPN, the third best strong safety by DraftScout.com, and was ranked the 11th best
defensive back by
Sports Illustrated.
New Orleans Saints The
New Orleans Saints selected Bell in the second round (61st overall) of the
2016 NFL draft. In order to secure their ability to draft Bell, the New Orleans Saints traded their 2016 third-round (78th overall) and fourth-round (112th overall) selections to the
New England Patriots in exchange for the second round (61st overall) selection used to draft Bell. The New England Patriots went on to use the selections acquired to draft
NC State's Joe Thuney (78th overall) and
Georgia's Malcolm Mitchell (112th overall). He was the fourth safety selected in 2016.
2016 On May 10, 2016, the New Orleans Saints signed Bell to a four–year,
$3.97 million
contract that includes an initial
signing bonus of $1.08 million. Throughout
training camp, Bell competed to be the starting
free safety against veteran
Jairus Byrd. He joined a group of established veteran safeties, including Jairus Byrd,
Kenny Vaccaro, and
Roman Harper. Head coach
Sean Payton named Bell a backup safety to start the regular season, behind starters Jairus Byrd and Kenny Vaccaro. On September 9, 2016, Bell made his professional regular season debut in the New Orleans Saints' home-opening 35–34 loss against the
Oakland Raiders. During Week 9, Bell recorded six combined tackles and was credited with half a sack during a 41–23 road victory over the
San Francisco 49ers. In Week 15, Bell tied his season-high of nine combined tackles (seven solo) and forced a fumble in a 48–41 victory at the
Arizona Cardinals. He finished his rookie season in
2016 with a total of 87 combined tackles (61 solo), four pass deflections, two forced fumbles, and a sack in 16 games and 14 starts. He was inconsistent throughout his rookie season and supplanted Byrd at free safety for a brief period at the beginning of the season before losing the role due to issues in pass coverage. He started two games at free safety and started 12 as either a nickel back in
Dennis Allen's third-safety technique.
2017 During training camp, Bell competed against rookie second-round pick
Marcus Williams for the job as the starting free safety after it was available following the departure of
Jairus Byrd. Head coach Sean Payton named Marcus Williams and Kenny Vaccaro the starting safeties to begin the season, with Bell as a backup free safety. During Week 6, Bell recorded five combined tackles (four solo) and made his first solo sack on
Matthew Stafford during a 52–38 win against the
Detroit Lions. He finished his sophomore season in
2017 with 83 combined tackles (62 solo), 4.5 sacks, and two pass deflections in 16 games and ten starts. The New Orleans Saints finished the
2017 NFL season atop the
NFC South with an 11–5 record. On January 7, 2018, Bell started in his first NFL playoff game and recorded nine combined tackles (seven solo) and sacked
Cam Newton in a 31–26 victory against the
Carolina Panthers in the NFC Wildcard Game. During Week 16, he collected a season-high ten combined tackles (seven solo) during a 31–28 victory against the
Pittsburgh Steelers. He finished his third season with a career-high 89 combined tackles (63 solo), three pass deflections, one sack, and one forced fumble in 16 games and eight starts. Bell received an overall grade of 74.3 from PFF in 2018, which ranked 24th among all qualified safeties.
2019 Defensive coordinator
Dennis Allen chose Bell as the starting strong safety over rookie
C. J. Gardner-Johnson to begin the season and paired him with Marcus Williams. On September 22, 2019, Bell recorded nine combined tackles (five solo) and recovered a fumble that teammate
Eli Apple caused from running back
Chris Carson and returned it 33–yards and to score his first career touchdown as the Saints defeated the
Seattle Seahawks 33–27. In the next game, Bell had ten combined tackles (seven solo), two fumble recoveries, and a forced a fumble off of running back
Ezekiel Elliott in a narrow 12–10 victory against the
Dallas Cowboys. During Week 7, Bell recorded a team high eight combined tackles (seven solo) and forced a fumble on wide receiver
Anthony Miller and recovered it in the 36–25 victory at the
Chicago Bears. On November 17, 2019, Bell made three combined tackles (two solo), was credited with half a sack, and made his first career interception off a pass thrown by
Jameis Winston to wide receiver
Chris Godwin during a 34–17 victory at the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This marked his first career interception after 58 games. In Week 14, Bell recorded a team high 13 combined tackles (nine solo) and sacked
Jimmy Garoppolo during a narrow 48–46 loss against the
San Francisco 49ers. He injured his knee during the loss and subsequently missed the last three games (Weeks 15-17). He finished with 89 combined tackles (66 solo), five pass deflections, one interception, 1.5 sacks, a career-high five fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles, and one touchdown in 13 games and 13 starts.
Cincinnati Bengals (first stint) 2020 On March 26, 2020, the
Cincinnati Bengals signed Bell to a three–year, $18 million contract that included an initial signing bonus of $3 million. On February 13, 2022, Bell started in Super Bowl LVI and made seven combined tackles (five solo) as the Cincinnati Bengals lost 20–23 against the
Los Angeles Rams.
2022 Although the Cincinnati Bengals drafted
Daxton Hill in the first round of the
2022 NFL draft, head coach Zac Taylor opted to remain with Bell and
Jessie Bates as the starting safeties. In Week 3, he collected a season-high eight solo tackles during a 27–12 victory at the
New York Jets. On September 29, 2022, Bell made four solo tackles, two pass deflections, and a career-high two interceptions off passes thrown by
Tua Tagovailoa and
Teddy Bridgewater in a 27–15 win against the
Miami Dolphins. On October 31, 2022, he made four combined tackles (three solo), a pass deflection, was credited with half a sack, and set a career-high with his fourth interception on a pass thrown by wide receiver
Amari Cooper to wide receiver
Michael Woods II during a 13–32 loss at the
Cleveland Browns. He started all 16 games in 2022 NFL season and made 77 combined tackles (53 solo), eight pass deflections, four interceptions, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and one sack.
Carolina Panthers 2023 On March 15, 2023, the
Carolina Panthers signed Bell to a three–year, $22.50 million contract that included $13.00 million guaranteed upon signing and an initial signing bonus of $5.83 million.
2024 On March 13, 2024, the Carolina Panthers released Bell.
Cincinnati Bengals (second stint) On March 15, 2024, the
Cincinnati Bengals signed Bell to a one-year, $1.21 million contract. In Week 3, he collected a season-high nine combined tackles during a 33–38 loss to the
Washington Commanders. Bell recorded six combined tackles, one pass deflection, and one interception in the Bengals' Week 4 win over his former team, the
Carolina Panthers. Prior to Week 13, Bell was demoted and lost his starting role to
Jordan Battle for the remainder of the season. He finished the season with a total of 55 combined tackles, two pass deflections, and one interception. ==Coaching career==