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Chicago Bears Sign RB Benny Cunningham

By Bill Zimmerman

Nov 6, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams running back Benny Cunningham (23) carries the ball past Carolina Panthers free safety Tre Boston (33) in the second half of the game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 6, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams running back Benny Cunningham (23) carries the ball past Carolina Panthers free safety Tre Boston (33) in the second half of the game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Chicago Bears have signed RB Benny Cunningham previously with the Los Angeles Rams.

The Chicago Bears added a little depth to the running back position but more importantly improved their return game in special teams by adding Benny Cunningham to the roster on Tuesday.

Cunningham was an undrafted free agent out of Middle Tennessee State in 2013 and was previously with the St Louis/ Los Angeles Rams the past four seasons. He was used sparingly in their running game, however, when Cunningham did get opportunities to play, he did show a knack to gaining some yardage. Cunningham carried the ball 178 times for the Rams over the years tallying up 748 yards and a 4.4 YPC clip to go with it.

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Cunningham also has some ability to catch the ball out of the backfield as he had 93 catches with the Rams as well over the past four seasons.

More importantly, Cunningham has experience and ability returning kicks. He had been the Rams regular returner the past three seasons and attempted 82 kick returns over the past three years grossing 2276 yards which nets him a clip of 27.8 yards per return. Last season in Chicago, Deonte Thompson’s yards per return fell to 23.0

While Cunningham is the latest in a collection of free agent signings that won’t excite the fanbase. He does fit the type of signing that Ryan Pace has targeted this offseason. The Bears roster was very thin last year and that lack of depth was seriously exposed when the Bears suffered a multitude of injuries.

Pace has signed several players that can start and allow the less-talented starter to slip back into subpackages where they belong, or can back up the quality starter the Bears might already have at a particular position. Pace’s plan is still to build through the draft, but it takes several years to build up a quality roster that direction, in the meantime, they need help, and guys like Cunningham, while they may not make major impacts, should help the Bears be in a better position to win football games in 2017.

Bill Zimmerman is an editor and featured writer for FanSided‘s BearGogglesOn. Like his Facebook page or follow him on Twitter for more news and interaction.

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