Chicago Bears training camp battle: Depth WR

1. Age and Contract

The last thing that may factor into this battle before training camp takes off is the age and contract that each player was given.

This is the obvious benefit for N’Keal Harry, considering he is the only one to see any guaranteed money. Still, he is also on a $1.8M salary, and the team could save $1.2M by letting him go.

One small nod to ESB is that he got $965K, while the other three got $895K. That is a small difference in the grand scheme, but it is telling they gave the other three identical deals and sweetened his a bit.

So, as an example, if the team cuts Harry, and keeps Pettis is will be a combined cap hit $1.4M, because of the dead money from Harry. If Harry makes it, and Pettis does not, they carry the $1.8M of Harry. This shows that the roughly $600K that Harry is guaranteed will not lock him onto the roster, and it would still save them money to keep the others.

The only thing going for Harry is that he 24.  ESB is 26. Sharpe is 28, while Pettis and Moore are 27..

All of a sudden ESB went from the most unproductive wide out into being the most well-rounded on special teams, the second youngest.

His salary, plus the dead hit of Harry is $1.5M which is still less than the total salary of Harry, so his contract is bigger than the others, but more bearable to keep than Harry, even with the guarantees that Harry saw.

Pettis is the most productive and can move into the slot as well as out wide. That alone may lock him onto the roster over the other two.

Moore is not the youngest, most productive, or most versatile. He is not the least in any of the areas, either, which gives him a good shot to catch on.

Lastly is Tajae Sharpe. He had more raw production, but his advanced metrics were some of the worse. He is the oldest, he does not have versatility, he does not have special teams experience, and when you add everything up, his profile is the least appealing of the group.]

If we had to project right now it would be

4. Dante Pettis

5. Equanimeous St. Brown.

6. N’Keal Harry

7. David Moore

8.  Tajae Sharpe