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3 former Bears who won’t live up to their new contracts

The Bears probably made the right call on letting these three guys walk.

ByCameron Ellis|
Chicago Bears v Minnesota Vikings
Chicago Bears v Minnesota Vikings | David Berding/GettyImages
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3 former Bears who won’t live up to their new contracts

1. Darnell Mooney, WR, Atlanta Falcons

New contract: 3-years, $39 million

Two years ago, this contract would have made all the sense in the world. Mooney was coming off a breakout season – or so everyone thought – and it seemed pretty likely that he was going to easily reach his projected ceiling as an NFL player. And then the next two years happened. Now, Mooney heads to Atlanta looking to revive his career, which seems to be par for the course for guys that Pace, who's now a senior advisor with the Falcons, had in Chicago. The money says that the Falcons don't think that Mooney's drop in production was his own fault, but is he really going to get those reps on an offense that includes Drake London, Bijan Robinson, Tyler Allgeier, and Kyle Pitts? Mooney's a good player that is almost certainly better than his 2023 stats (31 catches, 414 yards, one touchdown) would indicate, but it's hard to see his role increasing a bunch in Atlanta. Plus, if he has another underwhelming season, it'll be his third straight down year; it's hard to keep someone around the length of a contract when the signs of decline are that obvious.