The 2019 offseason went off with a bang after the doors to trades and free agency signings were blown open.

The latest bomb that was dropped in the News on Wednesday's official start of free agent signings is the New York Jets winning the Le'Veon Bell sweepstakes, signing the three-time Pro Bowl running back to a four-year, $52.5 million contract.

Bell, who shockingly held out on playing the entire 2018 season when he couldn't come to terms on a lucrative contract with his former team the Pittsburgh Steelers, is without a doubt one of, if not the best running back in the NFL today.

However, his move to the Big Apple will cause major ripples across the entire league – both on and off the field.

Here are three key developments that are expected to occur following Bell's signing with the Jets.

3. Contract Holdouts Won't Become the New Norm

Le'Veon Bell
CP

At 27 years old, Le'Veon Bell is well within the age range for running backs to be at their supposed prime.

Granted, the Michigan State product has already hit what other backs may deem as their peak, with his 2,215 total all-purpose yards production from the 2014 season as a good example.

Running backs don't have a long life span like other positional players in football do, so Bell's decision to preserve his health all the while holding out for a bigger paycheck seemed like a good decision. Well, at least for him personally and certainly not for the Steelers organization and his fellow teammates.

However, in the end, Bell settled for less money on an annual basis with the Jets than what Pittsburgh had offered him if he would've stayed. That being said, and despite all the talent and attention that dynamic dual-threat back got for his holdout, Bell's gamble didn't really work out the exact way that he wanted it to.

Bell's holdout case should serve as a reminder to the other NFL players looking to command their price on the market while virtually keeping teams hostage in the process.

It's not a good look for the player and the team on the receiving end, which will be criticized should the hefty price tag eventually not prove to be a worthy investment.

2. A Drastic Shift in the AFC East Paradigm

Sam Darnold, Adam Gase

It's been a decade since the AFC East had crowned a division champion not named the New England Patriots. For as long as Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are running the show in Foxborough, the Pats are an instant lock to represent the division come the postseason.

Now that Bell is member of the Gang Green Nation, New York finally has even more reason to be optimistic about overthrowing the Patriots regime in the aftermath of the middling Todd Bowles era.

Although new head coach Adam Gase has yet to make a compelling case of being a competent leader of an entire football squad, he now has real viable pieces to work with on the offensive side of the ball as opposed to his brief stint in Miami.

Gase was the quarterback coach for the Denver Broncos during Peyton Manning's career's second wind, and he also did a tremendous job turning around the Chicago Bears offense as the team's offensive coordinator in 2015. Now in New York, he has a truly promising quarterback in Sam Darnold to mold to go with Bell's natural knack for putting up massive numbers in both the running and passing games.

In addition to Bell, the Jets also made moves to give Darnold a lot more help by signing the likes of sure-handed wide receiver Jamison Crowder and rock-solid guard Kelechi Osemele.

With some key offensive acquisitions taken care of, Gase's next task would be to overhaul a Jets defense that ranked 29th in points allowed and 25th in yards surrendered in 2018.

With plenty of time left to make more moves in free agency and a crucial third-overall draft pick to make use of at this year's NFL draft, New York's odds of finally usurping New England from the AFC East's throne is more of a possibility now than in recent memory.

1. The Steelers Are About to Enter the Dark Ages

Mike Tomlin

The mighty Pittsburgh Steelers may have just fallen from grace in the short amount of time this free agency period.

Antonio Brown? Gone. Jesse James? Also gone. Now that Bell has finally fulfilled his prophecy of not playing for his former team any longer following his lengthy holdout, Pittsburgh's other shoe has finally dropped, and so too has its chances of remaining a perennial playoff contender.

Head coach Mike Tomlin is entering 2019 with arguably his most talent-deficient roster to date. Although there are some rising stars on the Steelers roster – namely JuJu Smith-Schuster, James Conner and T.J. Watt – there are too many holes on both offense and defense that need to be filled, especially with the departures of their two biggest stars in Bell and Brown.

Let's not forget that quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is already 37 years old and has become significantly injury prone over the past couple of seasons.

While the two-time Super Bowl champ is virtually the epitome of an iron man quarterback, his propensity of getting hurt is becoming more and more frequent of late, and the man is just as good as the weapons that he wields with.

Even if Roethlisberger's health holds up and continues to play like the Hall of Fame-caliber QB that he is this upcoming season, his NFL career is still on borrowed time.

In turn, the Steelers must plan ahead for life after Big Ben if they wish to remain as one of the more celebrated franchises in the league.