NFL free agency is a couple of weeks away from starting, which means that many teams will likely be trying to bid for the services of star running back Le’Veon Bell.

One of those presumed teams, the Philadephia Eagles, might not have enough to tempt the running back.

After Bell took to Twitter this weekend and teased a potential union between himself and the franchise, many Eagles players – including Malcolm Jenkins, Lane Johnson, and Chris Long – all interacted with him, welcoming the idea of Bell joining the Eagles.

On paper, it makes a lot of sense; not only are the Eagles starved for running back talent, but they were so inconsistent last year that they ranked 28th in rushing yards and in the bottom four in yards per attempt.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, Bell will likely be looking for a big payday when he finally gets a chance at free agency, and the Eagles simply don’t have the money to do much about that.

And that may be the biggest hurdle in getting a potential deal done, according to ESPN's Tim McManus:

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Even if they have deemed Bell to be the exception to their rule, there is a second issue: Philly is short on salary-cap space. The Eagles are projected to have a touch over $2 million in space at the moment, good for second-to-last in the league. They will free up money between now and the start of the league year on March 13 but are not in position to spend wildly, especially with Wentz due a mega-contract in the not-too-distant future.

Given these restrictions, it makes sense for Philly to go with a less expensive option in free agency and target the likes of FAU's Devin Singletary or Iowa State's David Montgomery in the draft. The Eagles have a pair of second-round picks this year, which increases the chance they spend a high pick on a running back for the first time since selecting LeSean McCoy 53rd overall in 2009.

They’ll likely be able to free up some money between now and March 13, but aren’t really able to spend the kind of money that Bell will likely be demanding, especially when they’ll have to save money to pay for quarterback Carson Wentz’s expected huge deal.

The last time the Eagles spent big at running back in free agency, it was for DeMarco Murray in 2015, and it didn’t go as planned.

That doesn’t mean that the team shouldn’t go after Le’Veon Bell, but when it does make more sense for Philadelphia to go after cheaper targets this season, or perhaps address their running back issues in the NFL Draft in April.