Bears To Sign K Cody Parkey
Former Dolphins kicker Cody Parkey intends to sign with the Bears, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). It’s a four-year deal worth $15MM ($9MM guaranteed), reports Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (via Twitter).
Parkey’s signing, of course, is not the biggest news of the day for the Bears. Already, Chicago has agreed to terms with wide receiver Allen Robinson and tight end Trey Burton, giving them two of this year’s top available offensive weapons.
Parkey, 26, spent the 2017 campaign with the Dolphins after kicking for the Browns from 2015-16. Last year marked the best season of Parkey’s career, as he nailed 91.3% of his field goal attempts. In Chicago, Parkey will reunite with longtime Browns special teams coordinator Chris Tabor.
Heading into free agency, PFR had ranked Parkey as the top free agent kicker on the board.
Bears Made A Run At Sammy Watkins
Early Tuesday morning, Sammy Watkins agreed to a three-year, $48MM deal with the Chiefs. Before that, Watkins had a booming market for his services. The Cowboys, Bears, Jaguars, and the incumbent Rams were among the teams in on the highly-coveted wide receiver, according to Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star (on Twitter). 
Watkins served as one of the top wide receivers available as an unrestricted free agency, along with Jaguars free agent Allen Robinson. The Bears reportedly agreed to a three-year, $42MM deal Monday with Robinson, who missed nearly the entire 2017 season with a torn ACL.
Bears To Sign TE Trey Burton
Former Eagles tight end Trey Burton is expected to sign with the Bears, a source tells Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter). Burton will land a four-year, $32MM deal, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
This four-year agreement looks closer to a two-year deal, however. Albert Breer of SI.com reports (on Twitter) Burton’s contract contains $18MM fully guaranteed in the first two years. After that, nothing is guaranteed, making the 2020 and ’21 seasons look like option years for the Bears.
Burton will receive a $7.5MM signing bonus and a $1MM roster bonus due early next week, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports. His initial two base salaries are $2.8MM and $6.7MM, with the 2020 season also coming with a $6.7MM base. If he’s still on the roster in 2021, Burton will earn a $6MM base. Although Burton doesn’t have any fully guaranteed money due after 2019, there is a $4MM injury guarantee for part of his 2020 money, per Florio.
Burton provides new head coach Matt Nagy with a serious weapon in the offense. Between Burton and new free agent addition Allen Robinson, quarterback Mitch Trubisky couldn’t ask for much more. Lat season, Trubisky was forced to throw to one of the least-inspiring group of pass-catchers in the NFL, but he’ll now have a few legitimate targets.
Burton, of course, has been a backup for the majority of his career, as he’s played second fiddle to Zach Ertz in Philadelphia. Over the past two years, Burton has averaged 30 receptions, 288 yards, and three touchdowns per season, but he’s been extremely efficient. Football Outsiders ranked Burton third in DVOA among tight ends a season ago, meaning he provided value on a per-play basis.
Despite his relative lack of experience, Burton will now become the fifth-highest-paid tight end in the league on an annual basis. His $8MM/year salary will place behind only Travis Kelce, Jordan Reed, Rob Gronkowski, and Ertz. While Burton’s guarantees haven’t yet been made public, each of those tight ends received between $10-15MM in fully guaranteed cash.
Burton, whom PFR ranked as the best tight end on the market and the No. 19 overall free agent, drew plenty of interest before landing in Chicago, as both the 49ers and Lions expressed interest.
[RELATED: Bears Depth Chart]
Vikings Showing Interest In CB Bryce Callahan
The Vikings are among the teams interested in Bears restricted free agent cornerback Bryce Callahan, according to Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune (on Twitter). The Bears used the lowest tender on Callahan, which grants them only the right of first refusal without draft compensation. 
The Bears have a lot of question marks regarding their secondary leading up to the opening of the new league year, especially if Callahan were to depart. The team has already placed its transition tag on Kyle Fuller and fellow starter at cornerback Prince Amukamara is set to become an unrestricted free agent.
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/13/18
Here are today’s restricted free agent and exclusive-rights free agent tender decisions, with the list being updated throughout the day. All links go to Twitter unless otherwise noted:
RFAs
Tendered at original round level ($1.907MM):
- Cardinals: DL Xavier Williams
- Jets: S Rontez Miles (via Ralph Vacchiano of SNY)
- Saints: WR Willie Snead (story)
- Steelers: LB Anthony Chickillo (via Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Non-tendered:
- Saints: CB Delvin Breaux (story)
ERFAs
Tendered:
- Bills: TE Nick O’Leary, DE Eddie Yarbrough, TE Logan Thomas, CB Lafayette Pitts (via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com)
- Browns: FB: Dan Vitale, C Austin Reiter (via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal)
- Buccaneers: RB Peyton Barber (story)
- Jaguars: WR Shane Wynn (story)
- Packers: QB Joe Callahan, T Adam Pankey (reports via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com),
- Ravens: RB Alex Collins, TE Vince Mayle, CB Stanley Jean-Baptiste (via Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com, on Twitter)
Non-tendered:
- Bears: TE Daniel Brown, LB John Timu
Bears Sign Allen Robinson
Early Tuesday morning, the Bears and wide receiver Allen Robinson agreed to a three-year, $42MM deal, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The deal was made official Wednesday night. Robinson was arguably this year’s top available wide receiver, edging Sammy Watkins.
The Bears lost a major target last offseason when Alshon Jeffery left in free agency to sign with the Eagles. Now, he provided young quarterback Mitch Trubisky with a true high-end option.
Robinson had spent his entire career with the Jaguars until today. After a breakout 2015 campaign that saw him haul in 80 catches for 1,400 yards and 14 touchdowns, Robinson took a step back in 2016 with “only” 73 catches for 883 yards and six scores. Then, he tore his ACL during his team’s Week 1 contest against the Texans last season. Robinson believes he’ll be back at full strength this year and if that’s the case, he’ll be terrorizing the NFC North.
Despite suffering a serious knee injury, Robinson was still able to garner $14MM annually, a figure which will place him inside the top-10 among wide receiver contracts. While it remains to be seen how Robinson’s new deal is structured — it’s possible the Bears can escape the pact after a year, depending on how bonuses are allocated — the 24-year-old was able to cash in even with a injury on his ledger.
Chicago, for its part, was in desperate need of wide receiver additions. Both Dontrelle Inman and Kendall Wright are unrestricted free agents, while Cameron Meredith and Josh Bellamy are restricted free agents. The Bears used original round tenders on both Meredith and Bellamy, meaning other clubs can potentially poach them without compensation heading to Chicago. Meanwhile, former first-round pick Kevin White has struggled to stay healthy during his NFL tenure and is currently recovering from injury.
The Jaguars reportedly considered deploying the franchise tag on Robinson, which would have parked him in Jacksonville at a one-year cost of roughly $16MM. Instead, the Jags let Robinson hit the open market, and now boast a wide receiver corps topped by Allen Hurns (who is a candidate for release), Keelan Cole, and Dede Westbrook. Fellow pass-catcher Marqise Lee is also an unrestricted free agent.
[RELATED: Bears Depth Chart]
Allen Robinson Confident He’ll Receive Multi-Year Deal
Despite missing the majority of the 2017 campaign due to injury, wideout Allen Robinson still believes he’ll get paid this offseason. Appearing on Mad Dog Sports Radio today, Robinson told the hosts that he doesn’t believe his ACL injury will keep him from earning a multi-year deal (via Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com).
Of course, it was likely that same ACL tear that kept the Jaguars from placing the franchise tag on the wideout. As Alper points out, some around the league were wondering if Robinson would have to settle for a one-year deal in order to reestablish his value in time for 2019 free agency. However, the wideout said conversations with his agent have led him to believe that he’ll definitely “get a multi-year deal done.”
While the wideout didn’t definitively name any landing spots, Alper points out that Robinson “reacted positively” when asked about the direction of the Bears and 49ers. The receiver also noted that he could end up back in Jacksonville.
The 2014 second-round pick has spent his entire career with the Jaguars, earning himself a Pro Bowl birth. Following a breakout 2015 campaign that saw him haul in 80 catches for 1,400 yards and 14 touchdowns, Robinson appeared to take a step back in 2016. The receiver finished that campaign with “only” 73 catches for 883 yards and six scores. He tore his ACL during his team’s Week 1 contest against the Texans.
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/12/18
Here are today’s restricted free agent and exclusive-rights free agent tender decisions, with the list being updated throughout the day.
RFAs
Tendered at second-round level:
- Falcons: G Ben Garland (via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal Constitution)
- Jaguars: RB Corey Grant (via John Oehser of Jaguars.com, on Twitter)
- Redskins: T Ty Nsekhe (via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, on Twitter)
- Titans: G Quinton Spain (Twitter link via Paul Kuharsky)
- Vikings: G/C Nick Easton (per Tom Pelissero of NFL.com, on Twitter)
Tendered at original-round level:
- Bears: CB Bryce Callahan, WR Cameron Meredith, WR Josh Bellamy (via Rich Campbell and Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, all Twitter links)
Non-Tendered:
- Broncos: WR Bennie Fowler (via Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post, on Twitter)
- Packers: P Jake Schum (per Rob Demovsky of ESPN)
ERFAs
Tendered:
- 49ers: RB Raheem Mostert (per Mostert’s agent, Brett Tessler, on Twitter)
- Broncos: LS Casey Kreiter, WR Jordan Taylor, LB Zaire Anderson, T Elijah Wilkinson, LB Jerrol Garcia-Williams, LB Joseph Jones (Jhabvala reports, Twitter links)
- Giants: G Jon Halapio (via ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan, on Twitter)
- Jaguars: TE Ben Koyack, OL William Poehls (Twitter links, via Oehser)
- Packers: WR Michael Clark, OL Justin McCray, CB Donatello Brown (all Twitter links via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com and Michael Cohen of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
- Raiders: K Giorgio Tavecchio, LB Shilique Calhoun (Twitter links via Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Josina Anderson of ESPN.com)
- Rams: RB Malcolm Brown, CB Troy Hill (per Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com, on Twitter)
Non-Tendered:
- Bears: LS Patrick Scales (via Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, on Twitter)
- Cardinals: TE Ifeanyi Momah (Twitter link via Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic)
Bears Re-Sign Bradley Sowell
The Bears have re-signed Bradley Sowell, according to James Palmer of NFL.com (on Twitter). The offensive lineman will remain in Chicago on a new two-year deal rather than exploring free agency. 
Sowell, 29 in June, spent last year as a reserve for the Bears, seeing time at both left guard and right tackle. His 297 snaps were not enough to qualify for ranking, but in a larger sample, he would have graded out as one of the 20 worst guards in the NFL last year, according to Pro Football Focus.
Terms of the deal are not yet known, but Sowell’s deal likely won’t be for much more than the veteran’s minimum.
Meanwhile, the Bears are reportedly hoping to land wide receiver Allen Robinson.
Kyle Fuller Offer Sheets Coming?
- The Bears placing their transition tag on Kyle Fuller may not dissuade teams from inquiring about the corner. JLC hears from multiple execs the fifth-year cornerback could be in line to see an offer sheet. However, Chicago holds $50MM in cap space and would seemingly be an obvious threat to match an offer that comes Fuller’s way. La Canfora reports the Packers, Titans, Buccaneers and Texans are doing extensive work researching the cornerback market. With Fuller tagged, Trumaine Johnson and Malcolm Butler are the prizes currently unattached.