The Chicago Bears have needs at wide receiver if you have not heard. They have been throwing things at the wall to try to find something that sticks. Another toss may soon be N’Keal Harry.
It is tough to sell anyone on N’Keal Harry the talent, as he has just 598 yards through three NFL seasons. Still, for the Bears, he would come in and be a contender on their depth chart. The team recently signed players such as Dante Pettis and Tajae Sharpe. These players have had similarly unproductive careers in the NFL, but have had flashes.
Should Chicago Bears have eyes on N’Keal Harry?
The big differences come down to age and pedigree. Harry was a first-round pick. The Patriots obviously made a bad pick, and he went late in round one, but most everyone would agree that he was a second-round player in that draft. There is some talent there that can be taken out. Pettis was taken in round two the year before him, and Sharpe was a fifth-round pick from 2016.
Beyond that, Pettis is 26, and Sharpe is 27. Harry is still 24 years old. Yes, insert he is younger than Velus Jones joke here. Still, that does matter. Had he stayed in college for the past three seasons he would be looked at much higher at this point in his career. Heck, he is about the same age as Darnell Mooney.
Harry came out four years younger than Jones and faced the ups and downs of the NFL. He may be able to hit his stride by age 25. A 24-year-old former first-round pick is what you need to bet on when the room looks like it does.
On the New England Patriots side, they seem to be fine letting him find a chance on a new team. They traded for Devante Parker, they traded up for Tyquan Thornton, and they signed Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne on top of their two tight ends the last off-season.
When you add in Jakobi Meyers you can see that this may be what makes Harry a better option for the Bears than anything else. It may cost them little to nothing.
Harry is going to be traded, and if he is not, he is going to be cut. The other teams likely know this, and no one is offering anything. A conditional seventh could probably get him. They could also wait until the summer and see if they can wait out the Pats, and claim him off of waivers. In the chance that he clears waivers, they could even sign him to a veteran minimum salary.
Either way, the cost is not going to be anything that makes the potential worth it. Will Harry work out? Probably not, but neither will anyone beyond Mooney so they may as well take a chance.