Lou Anarumo reveals how quickly he contacted safety Vonn Bell about returning to the Bengals

NFL rules prohibit players and coaches from contacting pending free agents during the legal tampering period leading up to the new league year. Once the clock hit 4:00 pm ET on Wednesday, March 13, all the phone lines (officially) opened.

Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo ended up dialing Vonn Bell's number as soon as he possibly could.

"I think it was 4:01 on Wednesday," Anarumo told Bengals radio analyst Dave Lapham on a recent episode of Dave Lapham In The Trenches. 

Anarumo's defense in Cincinnati has been at its best with quality safety play, which is what Bell brought to the table during the Bengals' back-to-back deep postseason runs from 2021-22. 

Returning to that stage is all that matters for Anarumo and the Bengals, and Bell's presence has already shown its value towards achieving that success. 

"Vonn is such a critical piece, not only just being on the field, but in the locker room and his overall presence of the leadership that he brings," Anarumo explained. "His value, as I said, you can't just write it down on a piece of paper and say 'here's what he brings,' because it's all the intangible things. He'll be able to help all of our young DBs just because of all of his experiences, both on and off the field."

The Bengals officially re-signed Bell on Friday, March 15, two days after Bell's convo with Anarumo. According to Bell, these were Anarumo's opening words to him over the phone:

"What we doing?"

Getting the band back together, it seems.