General manager Ryan Pace said the wide receiver position is “where you can get better quickly through free agency or the draft,” which is good because the Bears got worse in a hurry there last season.
Reinforcements — if not replacements — are on the way, and the Bears require nearly a complete overhaul of the depth chart.
Presumably efforts to field a receiving corps that can help bring out the best in quarterback Mitch Trubisky do not include a trade with the Dolphins to make Jarvis Landry one of the highest-paid players at the position. Plenty of folks have rushed to link Landry with the Bears, and it’s fair to wonder about any quality receiver and a team with a glaring roster hole and oodles of salary-cap space.
Just because the Bears could use three wide receivers and project to have $80 million in available salary-cap space doesn’t make overpaying Landry the right move.
The Dolphins placed the franchise tag on Landry, and reports surfaced Thursday that they have given his agent permission to seek a trade, meaning he can shop for the contract he’s seeking in an effort to create a match for Miami, which would then likely seek draft-pick compensation.
Landry, a second-round pick in 2014, set an NFL record with 400 receptions in his first four seasons. He hasn’t missed a game since entering the league and produced career highs of 112 catches and nine touchdowns in 2017. He has been to the Pro Bowl the last three years and adds toughness to an offense. Teams need to decide the value of a player who moves the chains — of Landry’s 112 catches, 60 went for first downs, the seventh-most in the league.
Those are all pluses, and Landry undoubtedly would be an upgrade for the Bears instantly. But he’s limited as a slot receiver — he averaged 8.8 yards per reception last season — and he’s not going to strike fear in opposing defenses. He gained 20 yards or more on only six catches last season. Josh Bellamy had four 20-yard-plus catches in 2017. Forty-yard-dash times aren’t the be-all, end-all, but Landry ran a 4.77 when he came out of LSU. He does a great job at dirty work, has some elusiveness underneath and would be a great, reliable target for Trubisky. But Landry wouldn’t solve the team’s need for dynamic playmakers with speed. He has been the Dolphins’ most reliable offensive player for four years, and they’ve essentially announced “It’s time to move on.”
Landry reportedly is seeking a contract from the Dolphins in line with the four-year, $58 million deal the Packers gave Davante Adams in December. At $14.5 million per season, Adams is the fifth-highest-paid receiver in the league, based on annual salary. Landry, while good, doesn’t belong in the top 10, a list that ends with Alshon Jeffery at $13 million per year. Jeffery can challenge the opponent’s best cornerback downfield and produce.
If Landry winds up on the open market, his fit in Matt Nagy’s offense is a conversation worth having — if the price is right. Chiefs general manager Brett Veach played connect-the-dots with Albert Wilson, forecasting potential interest from the Bears in the free-agent wide receiver. Landry is a better player overall, but Wilson is more explosive, wouldn’t require a trade and won’t command as much money. They’re both slot receivers.
The Jaguars’ Allen Robinson and Rams’ Sammy Watkins are the receivers to watch. Both could wind up staying put, but if either reaches the open market, the Bears would have to be in the mix.
Robinson, 24, is coming off a torn ACL suffered in Week 1 and might wind up with a one-year, prove-it deal — similar to the one Jeffery signed with the Eagles last March. It had a base value of $9.5 million with incentives that could have pushed it to $14 million. The Jaguars have the cap space to re-sign Robinson, but discussions have gone nowhere with March 14 — the start of the new league year — quickly approaching.
If the Bears were to add Robinson on a one-year contract, they could explore a long-term deal similar to what the Eagles did with Jeffery in early December. Robinson is three years removed from a 1,400-yard season with 14 touchdowns and has been playing with quarterback Blake Bortles. The Jaguars had wide receiver issues after Robinson went downone way or another. He has size and speed and makes plays downfield.
Watkins helped open the offense with the Rams, who want to extend their relationship after trading a second-round pick for him last year. But they have to pay defensive player of the year Aaron Donald and not long after him running back Todd Gurley, the offensive player of the year. While the Rams are motivated to keep Watkins, nothing has materialized.
As much as the Bears trading for Landry doesn’t make sense, adding Robinson or Watkins does.
