By all estimates, the Bears wide receiver group is about to get a facelift and should when DJ Moore had more targets than everyone else who wore a uniform at that position last year combined.
Often offseason lists of potential free agent candidates are only lists, but Pro Football Focus’ resident cap expert Brad Spielberger has drawn up potential landing spots for free agent wide receivers and one of the two he has coming to the Bears makes complete has sense.
The other makes sense in theory but extenuating circumstances would probably rule it out.
The Bears’ own free agent receiver, Darnell Mooney, had his production drop dramatically within Luke Getsy’s offense, and Spielberger has him leaving in free agency.
If Mooney had put up better numbers in 2023 that when he played only 12 games in 2022, bringing him back would make sense. However, his numbers were worse for 2023 with more games played and Spielberger sees Mooney going to the Chiefs and reuniting with Matt Nagy, or going to the Chargers.
The player who makes complete sense for the Bears to sign is one suggested by Samuel at slot receiver. It’s Curtis Samuel from the Washington Commanders. The good friend and former teammate of DJ Moore, Samuel plays a receiver position where the Bears need help. If they draft Caleb Williams, it’s better to surround him with as much experience as possible.
Spielberger points out how the Bears just hired Moore’s college receivers coach, Chris Beatty, so it seems their star receiver can carry some weight in the offseason decision-making process when it comes to signing his friend.
“Samuel offers a skill set the Bears seemingly tried to acquire in drafting Velus Jones Jr.—he can carry the ball out of the backfield and also rack up yards after the catch from the slot and wide alignments,” Spielberger wrote.
He also saw Miami as a compatible team for Samuel, but Miami can’t have every good receiver. Besides, as a cap expert he should realize the Dolphins are over the cap for 2024 more money than any team except New Orleans.
The other receiver Spielberger sees as a good fit for the Bears is Jacksonville free agent Calvin Ridley.
While Ridley’s skill set is definitely needed, Bears GM Ryan Poles has been stung already a few times too many with situations away from the field to go searching around for players with excess baggage. That’s especially the case when they are expensive players like Ridley will be. Spotrac.com projects his free agent cost at $17 million a year. Samuel is projected at $11.7 million a year. It seems unlikely the Bears would invest this much at receiver even if they have the cap space to absorb it.
Byron Pringle was supposed to be the No. 2 receiver when Mooney was No. 1 and instead he was arrested on reckless driving charges before the Bears ever started training camp, then didn’t produce in the season.
It’s difficult to imagine the Bears willing to take any chances with past character issues following the Pringle incident and arrest incidents with former linebacker Matthew Adams and former receiver David Moore all within a few months of each other.
Ridley bounced back very well from his gambling suspension in 2022 with 76 receptions for 1,016 yards and eight TDs. There’s no reason to think he’d be an off-field problem.
However, it’s difficult to imagine the Bears being the team willing to take any chances with players who had past character issues because of their own past with such players. Besides the more recent arrests with Poles as GM, the organization itself has had other off-field situations in the more distant past that it’s still trying to live down involving Jeremiah Ratliff, Tank Johnson and Sam Hurd.
Former Bears GM Jerry Angelo once said “We’re in the business of winning football games. We’re not going to prostitute character. We don’t put winning in front of character.”
It still holds true even if Angelo and his colorful use of the language are long gone from Chicago.
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