Cincinnati Bengals to sign former New Orleans Saints S Vonn Bell

March 25 (UPI) -- The Cincinnati Bengals and ex-New Orleans Saints safety Vonn Bell reached an agreement on a multiyear contract Wednesday.

League sources told ESPN and NFL Media that Bell agreed to a three-year, $18 million deal with the Bengals. The team has yet to confirm the agreement.

Bell, 25, has shown signs of improvement since the Saints selected him in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft out of Ohio State. When healthy, he was an every-down player for the Saints in 2019.

In 13 games last season, Bell tied his career high with 89 total tackles and nabbed the first interception of his NFL career. He also led the league with five fumble recoveries in the regular season before adding a sixth recovery in the Saints' postseason loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

Despite Bell's increased production over the past few seasons, he became expendable because of the Saints' tight salary-cap space and the emergence of second-year safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson.

Since entering the league in 2016, Bell has recorded 348 total tackles, eight sacks, one pick and 14 passes defensed in 61 career games with the Saints.