Bears Sign Jimmy Graham; Keep Your Fingers Crossed
The Chicago Bears signed former Green Bay Packers’ tight end Jimmy Graham to a two-year, sixteen million dollar contract, with nine million in guarantees.
Graham, 33, had 38 receptions for 447 yards and three touchdowns.
The Bears needed to address tight end after having no tight end on the roster with over one hundred receiving yards last season. Graham seems like a desperation signing — especially at that price — but hopefully, he can bring some production to a Bears’ offense that desperately needs it.
After this signing, the Bears tight end room now has the most guys in the entire NFL. The Bears currently have nine tight ends on their roster: Trey Burton, Jimmy Graham, Adam Shaheen, Demetrius Harris, Ben Braunecker, Jesper Horsted, J.P. Holtz, Eric Saubert, and Dax Raymond.
This signing makes zero sense.
The Bears had a tight end room with plenty potential, but they felt the need to go add a 33-year old tight end to eat up more targets. Not all of these guys will make the team, but this just felt like an unneeded signing. Tight end needed to be addressed this offseason, but I don’t think this was an ideal solution.
Graham is not a horrible tight end by any means, but the deal the Bears signed him to is absolutely awful. I don’t know what Ryan Pace was thinking when he offered Graham eight million a year at 33 years old. Now the Bears have two tight ends making eight million a year on their roster for the next two years. The Bears still have to address quarterback, guard, cornerback, and wide receiver with little cap room left. Pace did add another tight end to an underperforming group, but the money sunk into this deal was a horrible judgment call.
Even at 33, Graham still brings some much-needed help to the tight end room. He is a big target for whatever quarterback Chicago has starting next year, and can serve as a veteran presence for the younger tight ends on the team, and the locker room as a whole. However, Graham is unwilling and bad when it comes to blocking. Graham only brings pass-catching upside to the Chicago offense.
This signing really messes up the cap situation for the Bears as well. Before this signing, the Bears had about twenty-four million dollars in cap space. The Bears have to use the remaining money they have to sign a new QB, another guard, a receiver, a cornerback, and all of their draft picks from this upcoming draft.
Graham is certainly not a bad tight end by any means. That is not the problem with this signing. The problem is the amount of money Pace gave Graham for the potential upside he is going to bring to the offense. Graham will not be worth the eight million dollars he is due next season.
Pace sees the Bears’ championship window closing soon, so that may be why he is going after older free agents (not something we’ve seen Pace do often).
Even though this is not a great signing, hopefully, Graham can bring some production to a position that desperately needs it.
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