The Chicago Bears have re-signed Sherrick McManis.
The Chicago Bears may have spent the last three years fixing the defense and spent this entire offseason overhauling the offense, but that certainly doesn’t mean they are ignoring special teams. After tendering special teams ace Josh Bellamy earlier this offseason, the Bears continued to solidify their special teams’ unit by signing Sherrick McManis to a two-year contract.
#Bears have reached agreement with special teams ace Sherrick McManis on a 2-year contract. Tribune story https://t.co/58oFVz6Lym
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) March 22, 2018
McManis is now 30-years old and is the longest tenured Bear on the roster, but there is a good reason for that. McManis has excelled on special teams for several seasons. Last year, McManis continued that success with 12 special teams’ tackles which led the team (despite missing three games).
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McManis has also donned the ‘C’ for the special teams’ units and one would expect him to continue to captain that unit as well. Ryan Pace has focused on trying to make his team younger, but McManis has shown no signs of slowing down.
The Bears have no interest in playing McManis on defense, just like they have no interest in playing Josh Bellamy on offense. Those players are on the roster because of their talents on special teams. If they see the field on defense or offense respectively, it’s because it was a “Break Glass in Case of Emergency” type of situation.
McManis was originally a Phil Emery acquisition. He was acquired in 2012 in a trade with the Houston Texans and has been a key contributor ever since. McManis is one of the few Emery players still on this roster. The only other ones remaining are Kyle Fuller, Kyle Long, Charles Leno, and Pat O’Donnell. It gives you some indication of the void of talent that was on the roster in 2014 when Pace took over that only five players remain from the previous regime.
Financial terms of McManis’ deal were not disclosed in the original reports.