9. Equanimeous St. Brown
The Chicago Bears gave Equanimeous St. Brown a one-year deal worth just over $1M. The fact that the team already gave him a contract that ensures he will be in training camp this summer should be a sign that this deal was also a good one by Ryan Poles.
This is another one that has a lower-end player seeing more playing time than he was signed to play, though. Byron Pringle saw a bigger deal in free agency, they traded for N’Keal Harry, and they drafted Velus Jones. None of them could get in front of Equanimeous St. Brown.
ESB had a few things going for him. First, he bought into the culture. That meant that his role was selfless as well. ESB blocked like a tight end, and he ran routes that effectively were pick routes, but he ran them strong enough that he often freed up his teammates. These little things went a long way, and the team could not get him off of the field.
When he is back next season, the hope is that he is closer to their fourth or fifth guy and not their one or two. Still, they did have him play as the number two most of the season, and they re-signed him, so this is another good grade coming.
Equanimeous St. Brown Grade: A