Chicago Bears Notes: June 8th
It’s been a slow week overall as we are in the doldrums of the NFL season as we wait for training camps and preseason games to begin. Here is a breakdown of any Bears news you might have missed over the last week or so.
1.) Bears sign Jonathan Bullard – The Bears finally signed their final draft pick this week when they inked 3rd round pick Johnathan Bullard to a 4-year deal on Monday. Bullard is an upgrade over any of the Bears starting DEs last year and has a legitimate chance to start as a rookie.
2.) Odds of a long-term deal with WR Alshon Jeffery lessen by the day – Alshon Jeffery was in Chicago this week to sing the 7th inning stretch at the Cubs game, but didn’t bother to stop at Bears OTAs. Jeffery continues to train on his own in Florida instead of working out with the rest off his Bear teammates.
Every day that passes lessens the chances that the Bears get a long-term deal done with Jeffery before the July 15th deadline. It looks more and more like Jeffery will play this season under the franchise tag and put the Bears in a tough position next off-season. The franchise tag goes up considerably (120%) in year two and it would cost the Bears roughly $17.5M to franchise him again in 2017.
Does Jeffery want out of Chicago? Or is Jeffery working hard to make sure he doesn’t suffer from the same soft tissue problems that plagued him in 2015 and caused him to miss seven games? There are plenty of rumors that Jeffery wants to play down south, closer to where he grew up, and in warmer weather…
He isn’t doing anything this off-season to prove otherwise. HC John Fox is the type of coach that wants his players at Halas Hall every day and I can’t imagine he is happy that Jeffery is the only prominent player not in Chicago. Jeffery’s behavior keeps leading to one rumor that might make sense…
3.) Are the Bears and Jets discussing an Alshon Jeffery for Mohammed Wilkerson trade? – Both players are playing under the franchise tag this year, both players are far apart in contract negotiations for long-term deals, both teams drafted potential replacements in the top ten of the 2015 draft, and both players will be too expensive to franchise again in 2017.
The Jets d-line has enough depth to replace Wilkerson, but the Bears might not have enough talent at receiver to replace Jeffery. The Bears would have to be pretty confident in Kevin White and the rest of their receiving core to make the move for Wilkerson.
Though adding Wilkerson, who is one of the best d-linemen in the league and arguably the best 5-tech, would improve the defensive considerably. Wilkerson was a Pro Bowl DE last year, has the ability to consistently beat double-teams, set the edge vs the run, and still rush the QB with 12 sacks last year. Bears DC Vic Fangio built a top-five defense in San Fran around DE Justin Smith and Wilkerson is the closing thing to Smith in the league (outside of maybe JJ Watt).
The Jets need for Jeffery isn’t as obvious, but 2017 is the last year of Brandon Marshall’s deal and he will be 33 at the end of his contract. Eric Decker will be 30 this season as well and the Jets don’t have much depth ready to replace either player should their play decline with age.
If Jeffery is set on leaving Chicago and Wilkerson can’t agree to a long-term extension with the Jets, then the trade starts to make much more sense.
4.) Bears sign LB Jarrett Grace – Former Notre Dame ILB, who broke his leg in 2014 and wasn’t fully recovered until late last season. In 2013 Grace had 40 tackles backing up Manti Te’o and was in line for the starting gig in 2014 before breaking his leg. The injury was grotesque enough that Grace’s football career was in jeopardy.
Grace managed to come back and play his senior year as a solid back-up with 26 tackles and 1.5 TFLs. Despite a career-threatening leg injury and not seeing the field much the last two seasons, Grace had an impressive pro day, running a 4.75 40-time, above-average times in the shuttle and 3-cone drills, and 26 bench reps of 225 pounds which would have ranked 3rd among ILBs at the combine. Grace’s impressive measurables and ideal ILB size (6’3, 240 pounds) put him on NFL radars.
He impressed the Bears enough at their rookie mini-camp that he earned a spot on the Bears 90-man roster. The Bears are obviously very deep at inside linebacker, so it’s my guess that Grace is a camp body who will need to stand out on special teams to make the roster or even practice squad.
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