Bears To Work Out DeShone Kizer
- Even though the Bears handed quarterback Mike Glennon a significant contract in free agency, they aren’t necessarily content under center. Evidence: The club is likely to conduct a private workout with Notre Dame QB DeShone Kizer next week, tweets Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com ranks Kizer as the 33rd-best player in this year’s class, which could make him a possibility for the Bears in Round 2 (No. 36).
Front Office Rumors: Bills, 49ers, Colts
Earlier today, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com brought us news on the Redskins’ GM search. Further down in his column, he presented more front office news from around the NFL. Here’s a look at the highlights:
- New Bills coach Sean McDermott could convince ownership to import front office guys with whom he has a relationship. JLC floats the name of Panthers director of player personnel Don Gregory and notes that there are “already rumblings that the marriage of McDermott and Bills GM Doug Whaley” will not last.
- The 49ers are also looking to add to the front office. This makes sense given that new GM John Lynch is a front office neophyte.
- New Colts GM Chris Ballard may want to shake up the scouting core, but league sources tell JLC that he may have to wait a year since the evaluators that are already there have more time to go on their contracts. Still, Ballard badly wants to poach Seahawks executive Ed Dodds. If Indy can land him, he’ll probably get a promotion over his current title. Jets director of college scouting Rex Hogan is also a Ballard target, but JLC hears that he still has a good amount of time left on his contract and might be harder to pry away.
- Bears exec Morocco Brown, who has history with Ballard, could be a possible candidate for the Colts and 49ers. JLC notes that Brown had a solid relationship with new SF coach Kyle Shanahan in D.C.
Bears Hosting QB Mark Sanchez On Visit
Free agent quarterback Mark Sanchez will meet with the Bears on Thursday, reports Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (via Twitter). The veteran is presumably being pursued for a backup role, as the organization signed Mike Glennon to a $45MM deal earlier this offseason.
It’s been a relatively quiet offseason for Sanchez, who hasn’t been connected to any teams so far. The former first-rounder spent the 2016 season serving as a backup to Dak Prescott on the Cowboys. In two games, Sanchez completed 55.6-percent of his passes for 93 yards and a pair of interceptions.
The last time he got regular playing time was in 2014 with the Eagles, when he threw for 2,418 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions in nine games. Despite his lack of production over the past couple of seasons, the 30-year-old was still listed ninth on our recent free agent positional rankings.
The Bears are currently rostering a pair of quarterbacks in Glennon and Connor Shaw, and they could bring back exclusive rights free agent David Fales. Regardless of whether they sign Sanchez, the team’s quarterback depth chart will look a whole lot different next year, as the organization moved on from Jay Cutler, Brian Hoyer, and Matt Barkley this offseason.
Bears Sign Benny Cunningham
After hosting him for a visit today, the Bears have signed running back Benny Cunningham to a one-year deal, the club announced.
Cunningham, 26, will slot in behind Jordan Howard, Jeremy Langford, and Ka’Deem Carey on Chicago’s running back depth chart, but most of his impact will be as a kick returner. On 22 kick returns, Cunningham ranked third in the NFL with 27.2 yards per return in 2016, while the Bears lost 1.1 yards of field position in the return game, according to Football Outsiders.
While it’s not out of the question Cunningham could chip in on offense if injuries affect the Bears, he’s averaged only 43 carries during his four-year NFL career. Cunningham did put up a career high 45 receptions in 2014, so perhaps a passing game role is in his future. More likely, he’ll compete with Deonte Thompson (who was re-signed today) for return duties.
Cunningham ranked as PFR’s No. 9 free agent running back still on the board. He’d visited the Jets already this offseason, and had also been loosely linked to the Seahawks.
Bears Host RB Benny Cunningham
The Bears are meeting with free agent running back Benny Cunningham on Tuesday, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com, and have also re-signed wide receiver Deonte Thompson, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link).
Given that clear-cut starter Jordan Howard is backed up by both Jeremy Langford and Ka’Deem Carey in Chicago, Cunningham would take on a purely special teams role with the Bears. The 26-year-old Cunningham didn’t play much on offense in 2016, anyway, as he managed only 21 carries for the Rams. His role as a returner, though, was far more clear.
On 22 kick returns, Cunningham ranked third in the NFL with 27.2 yards per return. Thompson, meanwhile, was Chicago’s kick returner last season, but only averaged 23 yards per return. The Bears lost 1.1 yards of field position on kick returns in 2016, according to Football Outsiders, so adding Cunningham could theoretically offer an improvement over Thompson.
Thompson is now under contract, however, which could lead the Bears to rethink a Cunningham acquisition. In contrast to Cunningham, Thompson played a bit of an offensive role last year, as he reeled in 22 of 36 targets for 249 yards and two touchdowns.
Bears Host Reuben Foster On Visit
Two Alabama stalwarts are making the pre-draft visit rounds. Reuben Foster had dinner with Bears brass on Sunday night and visited the team’s facility today, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (on Twitter). Chicago holds the No. 3 pick in the draft. Although, the Bears spent upper-echelon inside linebacker money on Danny Trevathan and Jurrell Freeman last offseason.
Bears To Re-Up Chris Prosinski, C.J. Wilson
The Bears will keep one of their top special-teamers in Chicago, reaching an agreement to re-sign safety Chris Prosinski, Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets. They also kept defensive lineman C.J. Wilson.
Prosinski’s deal is for one year, the team announced. The Bears signed Prosinski to a one-year contract last March.
A former Jaguars fourth-round pick in 2011, Prosinski has played the past two seasons with the Bears. He saw action on 174 defensive snaps last season, operating as a backup mostly. Prosinski will rejoin a Bears secondary that now houses Quintin Demps and will assuredly be used on most of Chicago’s specialty units again.
The soon-to-be 30-year-old safety made 18 tackles last season. He made one start in 2016 and five in ’15. Prosinski resided in Dallas Robinson’s top 15 available safeties. He did not generate any interest, at least publicly, from other teams in his latest UFA foray.
Wilson caught on with the Bears after a nomadic season that saw him become part of several NFL transactions. The former Packers starter bounced around to several spots before landing in Chicago midway through the 2016 campaign. Wilson will turn 30 next week and should he make the Bears’ 53-man roster, this will be his eighth NFL season. Although, he had issues sticking on teams’ active rosters last season.
Ricky Jean-Francois Departs Bears Without Deal
- Ricky Jean-Francois left his Bears visit without a contract, and the UFA defensive lineman will make his way to Seattle for a scheduled Seahawks summit, Josina Anderson of ESPN.com tweets. Anderson added
Contract Details: Taylor, Cook, Willson
The latest contract details from around the NFL:
- Tyrod Taylor, QB (Bills): Taylor earns an additional $500K if the Bills make it to the divisional round of the playoffs in 2017, which becomes $1MM if they advance to the AFC Championship, and $2MM if they advance to the Super Bowl. The same package of incentives applies to 2018 (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk).
- Jared Cook, TE (Raiders): Two years, $10.6MM, $1.6MM in incentives (effectively a one-year $5.3MM deal with $800K in incentives) (Twitter link via Ben Volin of The Boston Globe).
- Luke Willson, TE (Seahawks): One year, $1.8MM, $1MM in incentives (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle).
- Kayvon Webster, CB (Rams): Two years, $7.75MM. Salaries of $2.75MM (guaranteed), $3MM. $1MM 2017 roster bonus guaranteed, $500K 2018 roster bonus guaranteed. (Twitter link via Wilson).
- Sean Spence, LB (Colts): One year, $2.5MM. $750K signing bonus. $500K in incentives (Twitter link via Wilson).
- Kendall Wright, WR (Bears): One year, $2MM. $250K signing bonus. $2MM in incentives (Twitter link via Wilson).
Ricky Jean-Francois To Visit Bears
Free agent defensive tackle Ricky Jean-Francois informed ESPN’s Josina Anderson that he will visit the Bears on Saturday. If he leaves Chicago without a deal, his previously reported meeting with the Seahawks will take place Sunday (Twitter link).
Jean-Francois just hit the market when the Redskins released him on Wednesday. That came on the heels of a 16-appearance, seven-start season in which he racked up 32 tackles and 1.5 sacks while playing roughly 40 percent of the Redskins’ defensive snaps. Pro Football Focus ranked Jean-Francois’ performance an above-average 45th among 127 qualified interior defensive linemen.
The 30-year-old Jean-Francois remains a competent defender, clearly, and hasn’t missed a game since 2013. An adept run defender, Jean-Francois would help bolster a Chicago defense that finished just 28th in DVOA against opposing ground games last year. While the eight-year veteran indicated Thursday that he’d rather play in a 4-3 alignment than a 3-4 (the Bears utilize the latter), signing with Chicago would reunite him with defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. Jean-Francois previously played under Fangio from 2011-12 in San Francisco.