Chicago Bears: Did Ryan Pace find the top sleeper in free agency?

The Chicago Bears sleeper at tight end.

The Chicago Bears offseason this year did have a hint of “Ryan Pace messed up, so let’s fix it vibe”. Pace signed Jimmy Graham to replace Trey Burton and drafted Cole Kmet to replace Adam Shaheen. Pace also brought in Nick Foles to compete with Mitch Trubiksy and will replace Chase Daniel with the quarterback who becomes the backup. Leonard Floyd is out, and Robert Quinn, a pass-rushing specialist, is brought in to play opposite Khalil Mack.

Out of all of those moves the Chicago Bears made, most fans only seem to be excited about the Quinn signing but down on the Graham move. Some have made it known that they believe Graham is too old, too slow and “washed”. Most believe Pace backed up the Brinks truck when he did not have to again.

I wasn’t overly impressed with the Jimmy Graham signing mostly because of the cost, but I would be lying to you if I didn’t want to see Graham in a Chicago Bears uniform. Out of all of the older veteran tight ends on the market, I preferred Graham over Delaine Walker and Rob Gronkowski.

Walker’s injury history scares me, and Gronk’s sense of humor scares me. Jimmy Graham has clearly been the best tight end on the team during the padded practices. He consistently gets open and has shown that he still has glue on his hands.

If you put on training camp highlights for the Chicago Bears, you will find a lot of Jimmy Graham. From fade routes to slants, Graham might be the focal point in this offense. A lot of plays in training camp have been finishing with Graham spiking the ball into the grass.

I tell you what, if the media and fans feel that Ted Ginn Jr still has it in him to be a threat then why not Jimmy Graham. At least Graham as been something big in the NFL at one point. If Graham can squeeze out two years’ worth of vintage Graham, the Chicago Bears might have a sleeper working in their favor on offense.