Why N’Keal Harry is unlikely to re-sign with Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears will have a tough decision to make with free agent wide receiver N’Keal Harry. He was a former first-round pick, and some fans still think that could present some upside. Beyond that, the team traded for him, so maybe they do want to bring him back.

Chicago Bears are unlikely to re-sign N’Keal Harry

However, there is a slim chance that Harry returns to the team after such a rough season. Yes, injuries derailed the year from the start, and Harry had to miss the first six games of the season.

Still, from week seven on, he could barely get on the field. This would typically be understood, but his competition was Dante Pettis and Equanimeous St. Brown. Even if he missed all of training camp, it should have taken a week or maybe two to unseat one of those guys.

Instead, Harry went in the opposite direction. The team made him inactive in four of the team’s final eight games. If that does not tell you where he will be next year, I do not know what to say.

While being behind in terms of the timing of the trade, and the injury hurts, the Chicago Bears were claiming guys in August and found Armon Watts and Trevon Wesco. Both of them went from being cut to jumping over Angelo Blackson and Ryan Griffin and it took them less than four weeks to do it.

This is not the coaches holding a player back, they showed Watts and Wesco that you can fly up the depth chart if you prove it. Harry never proved to the coaches that he could be trusted more than Pettis or St. Brown.

The loss of a future seventh-round pick really does not matter as it is worth the shot. The 2024 7th-round pick for the Bears is a bust, and they found out a few years early. The only thing that could make the trade worse would be doubling down and extending Harry.

When you look at the Chicago Bears depth chart they have Chase Claypool, Darnell Mooney, Velus Jones, and St. Brown. Harry will not beat out the first two, and St. Brown was already ahead of him. Jones at least has special team value, so adding him would be a fifth wideout, and that would be if they add nobody.

Harry has no role here and would enter camp as the sixth or seventh wideout looking to get cut. He is better off finding a new team that may still buy into him, and the Chicago Bears are better at looking for a better option at their sixth or seventh spot.