Alshon Jeffery leaves Chicago Bears for one
- Published
Alshon Jeffery’s career with the Bears is over, and the 2012 second-round pick is betting on himself, signing a one-year deal worth $14 million with the Eagles.
Jeffery will enter his third consecutive contract year. Soft tissue injuries in 2015 limited him to nine games and he played under the franchise tag in 2016, when he was suspended four games for a PED violation.
Jeffery leaves Chicago ranked third in franchise history with 4,549 receiving yards in his five seasons. He had only two touchdown catches in 2016 and clearly couldn’t find what he was seeking on the open market in terms of a long-term deal. NFL Network reported that the Vikings offered Jeffery a multi-year contract and the receiver turned it down.
In Philadelphia, Jeffery will be the Eagles’ No. 1 receiver for second-year QB Carson Wentz, and he reunites with Mike Groh, who was the Bears’ receivers coach from 2013-15. Jeffery should be a good complement for the other Eagles addition at wideout, the speedy Torrey Smith.
The one-year deal is a risk for Jeffery, who hasn’t played in all 16 games since 2014. However, if he puts up 2013-14 numbers — 1,133 yards and 10 scores in ’14 and 1,421 yards and seven touchdowns in ’13 — Jeffery will enter 2018 free agency at the age of 28 set to get a much more lucrative contract than he received Thursday.
If Jeffery struggles with availability again, he’ll hit the market and get much less than whatever the Vikings offered him.
The Bears now have a major need to fill at the receiver position. Eddie Royal is expected to be released when healthy, according to the Chicago Tribune, leaving new quarterback Mike Glennon with Kevin White, Cameron Meredith, Josh Bellamy, Rueben Randle and Daniel Braverman.
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