Chicago Bears: 5 Bold predictions for the 2020 offseason

Righting a Wrong from 2010

Most of you have probably guessed this one by the subheading, but my first prediction is the Chicago Bears signing Greg Olsen. Reports came out that the Carolina Panthers will be parting ways with Greg Olsen this offseason. The split was a mutual decision between the team and Olsen.

Olsen is currently 34 years old and will be 35 for the 2020 season. This should not deter Ryan Pace from righting a wrong that his predecessor made back in 2010. The Chicago Bears traded Olsen to the Carolina Panthers because of the offensive coordinator at the time, Mike Martz, did not like pass-catching tight ends.

Since leaving the Bears, Olsen has gone on to have a very productive career. He made three Pro Bowls and has been one of the best tight ends in the league when healthy. Health has been Olsen’s biggest issue though. Over the last three seasons, Olsen has only started 30 games. He did start 14 of them in 2019 though.

Last year, Olsen caught 52 of his 82 targets for 597 yards. He only had two touchdowns, but so did the entire Chicago Bears tight end group. To prove just how bad the Bears tight end group was, one could also look at the yardage production. Olsen gained 202 more yards on his own than the Bears tight end group combined. Go ahead and cut Trey Burton, save $1 million dollars and add Greg Olsen. Honestly, the team could just keep both. Either or works for me.

Olsen has already had visits scheduled with Washington, Seattle and Buffalo. Rumors are the Chicago Bears have yet to reach out. Pace needs to look at Olsen as a stopgap they could sign to a relatively cheap one or two-year deal. This will give whoever they might draft in the 2020 NFL Draft a chance to learn and step up the following year. Pace gets this one right and signs Olsen to a two-year, $13.5 million deal.