Chicago Bears Sign WR Greg Herd, Waive Conor O’Neil
Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
After it was announced that Marquess Wilson had undergone surgery to repair his broken clavicle, Chicago Bears head coach Marc Trestman expected to get some reinforcements in the wide receiver group in short order:
"“We’re on top of that,” Trestman said. “I think you’ll see some resolution in that over the next 48 hours. With the loss, we’re going to have to pick up a slot there. So we’ll be working on that as we move along, and the competition with who’s involved right now will continue.”"
While I speculated about in-house candidates to compete for the #3 wide receiver spot and Mike Flannery looked at some external candidates, neither of us guessed right so far. The Bears worked out a couple of veteran wide receivers, including former Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes, but opted to sign undrafted second year wide receiver Greg Herd. Herd entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Eastern Washington. He also spent time with the Seahawks last season.
The 6-3, 202 pound Herd collected 165 catches for over 2300 yards and 17 touchdowns in his four seasons at Eastern Washington. While Herd will jump into the mix, I doubt he’s a serious contender to take over Wilson’s role. It’s more likely that they’ll stick with an in-house candidate to take the #3 job until Wilson returns.
For those clamoring for Earl Bennett, the word I’ve heard is that Earl might not be 100%. You’ll recall he had some concussion problems in the past and had some tough injuries during his Bears career. It will be interesting to see who gets reps in the first preseason game against the Eagles on Friday night.
To make room for Herd, the Bears waived undrafted rookie free agent linebacker Conor O’Neil.