The Bear Goggles On Countdown to Kickoff series is now underway. With 15 days to go until the Bears season kicks off, we will highlight wide receiver, Josh Bellamy.
2016 Review
Last season Bellamy wound up finding himself in a bigger role than expected. He wound up starting two games and getting 38 targets throughout the season. He turned that into 19 receptions for 282 yards and a touchdown. It was not the most impressive stat line, but for a player who was supposed to be on the bottom of the roster, it was not bad either. He saw career highs in targets and yards while tying his career in receptions.
2017 Outlook
Bellamy should be lower on the totem pole this season. The team was not impressed with his 50% catch rate and brought in Kendall Wright, Markus Wheaton, and Victor Cruz to push him down the depth chart. Unfortunately for Bellamy, this also may push him off of the roster. Kevin White is back and healthy and Cameron Meredith is a roster lock. Deonte Thompson has made significant strides on special teams and the receiver room is going to be mighty crowded heading into the season. Bellamy will not be fighting to grow on his career highs but will be fighting to even get a chance this year.
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Future with the Bears
Bellamy has no long term ties to the roster. If cut this year he costs the Bears nothing and is an unrestricted free agent next season anyway. Bellamy is expendable on the roster and expendable on the books. It could lead to him being cut in the next week or so, finding himself on a different team in 2017 and beyond.