Every year we see free agents flock to teams and coaches that they are familiar with. It is always some assistant or coordinator who a player had a strong year with, and now that coach is campaigning to bring him onto their new team.
Matt Nagy brought in a few former Chiefs as depth players, and we all know that Nick Foles wound up in Chicago due to his connections. With that in mind, the Chicago Bears will likely be signing from a group of players that they are familiar with in some ways.
Even despite tagging Allen Robinson, the Bears have a need to add more at the receiver position. Looking into potential free agents, a lot of coaching connections stood out. Do any fit the Chicago Bears?
10. A.J. Green, 9. Alex Erickson, 8. John Ross
Let’s lump the first three together because they are all coming from Cincinnati. This is a clear connection as well, as Bill Lazor was with the Bengals from 2016-18. Lazor was the OC from 17-18, so he had a relationship with all three.
Green obviously has a lot of connections and is most in demand, which is what puts him at 10. Still, the last time had 1,000 yards was with Lazor. Unfortunately he 2018, his injury derailed the Lazor offense and started their regime change.
Erickson is worth noting as his first season was in 2016 with Cincy. His first year seeing actual NFL work was in 2017, where he had 12 catches for 180 yards with Lazor. He had 20 for 167 yards the following season under Lazor.
To be fair to Erickson, he had his career year in 2019 after Lazor left, but that was mainly due to injuries around him. Overall, Erickson is a fit for a few reasons. One because he is cheap, and two because he plays the slot. He could help the team move on from Anthony Miller, and provide a reliable cheap depth option.
John Ross is interesting because he was a first-round pick in 2017, the year Lazor was promoted to OC. Not to say Lazor pounded the table, or that his rookie season was anything but a disaster, but there could be a piece of Lazor that believes in the talent as a top ten pick. We saw Ryan Pac bet on Artie Burns and Germain Ifedi last year as former first-round picks, so Ross could be next.