THURSDAY, 5:41pm: The fact that Jeffery’s chosen to train independently in Miami has helped dissuade the Bears from engaging in substantial long-term extension discussions, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report notes (video link). Although Jeffery and Jay Cutler have played together for four seasons, the second-year power structure of Ryan Pace and John Fox would prefer to see the fifth-year receiver working with the team in Chicago to develop a stronger rapport with the eighth-year Bears passer after being limited to nine games last season.
TUESDAY, 10:32am: Back in March, the Bears applied the ~$15MM franchise tag to Alshon Jeffery to keep him in Chicago for the 2016 season. At the time, it was widely expected that the two sides would shake hands on a new multi-year deal before the start of the 2016 season. Apparently, that is not going to be the case. There are no indications that the Bears will push to get a long-term deal solidified for Jeffery this summer, league sources tell Dan Wiederer and Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune. At this point, it is a “near certainty” that he will play out this season under the franchise tender, Wiederer adds.
After averaging 87 receptions and 1,277 yards in 2013 and 2014, Jeffery was plagued by injuries in 2015, but he was excellent when healthy, averaging a career-high 89.7 yards per game. Now, the Bears want Jeffery to prove that he can stay healthy before they give him eight figures per season on a long-term pact. The wide receiver, predictably, wants his guaranteed cash now and is skipping OTAs to try and get his point across. Still, according to Campbell, the expectation is that Jeffery will be at the mandatory minicamp in mid-June and at training camp in late July.
One could argue that Jeffery would be better off playing out the 2016 season under the franchise tag anyway. After missing seven games in 2015, Jeffery could boost his leverage by turning in that same kind of output across a full 16-game season.
The Bears started to remodel their team last season but, despite some speculation to the contrary, the team did not shop Jeffery. This offseason, the Bears had no intention of letting him hit the open market. Had he been an unencumbered free agent, however, he would have ranked near the top of PFR’s Top 50 NFL Free Agents list. The wide receiver market this spring was headlined by the likes of Marvin Jones, Travis Benjamin, Rishard Matthews, Rueben Randle, Anquan Boldin, Jermaine Kearse, and Mohamed Sanu.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
First off this is not mandatory, this is voluntary, mainly for the rookies to gang a relationship with the staff , teammates, and cutler , this can end in two ways the bears wait until after the season to try an sign Jeffery or they get the deal done , Jeffrey despite being injured last yr . Still was the most productive wr on the roster as well as the leading wr . 878 yards and 7 touchdowns don’t quote me on the stats but somewhere in this area was his stats last yr , even with missing 7 games , he still was the top wr so with that being said he should get paid, the Bears are building a hole for their self, for one reason. If Jeffery comes back this yr an puts up numbers such as 1400 and 10 touchdowns Chicago fans we are in trouble…after posting those numbers there is no guarantee that he will stay in Chicago after this season due to the lack of communication and the wanting to getting the deal done , Jeffery will be everything this team asked for our of him and I feel if they can get a deal for Jeffery done before July 15 , Jeffrey will walk in free agency after the season has come to an end , with nothing in return and the way the front office has handled players like , forte , Marshall, Bennett, urlacher, and a couple other names , players are watching how these situations were handled and none of them were good it leaves a sour taste in ur mouth , not to forget that this is a business, we can lose our top wr for lack of interest and the willingness to get a deal done , Jeffery will surpass his last yr stats with ease this yr , and he will have something to prove , but once he does prove the bears should of signed him , he will walk in free agency to be the top free agent available on the market which means he will get top dollar for whatever team he decided to go to , my thing get him under a long term deal now, before he displays another 1000 yard receiving yr , and cost to much for the bears to consider, we already know tgat pace won’t get into a bidding war for top players, so signing him now makes sense if he puts up numbers he did his first couple seasons we are in trouble come the end of yr , if we don’t get a deal done before the 15th of July fans just like we said bye to forte , get Ready to do the same at the end of this yr with Jeffrey of they don’t show him they want h he will walk at the end of the yr , another great talent wasted in Chicago without a title note players we let go bostic , Olsen, Allen, Marshall, Bennett, forte , if they let forte walk what makes u think they will keep Jeffrey, Hester, urlacher, Tillman, some of these players went on to go to playoffs and Superbowl , with the BEARS sitting at home watching bostic , Allen , Olsen , Tillman all went to playoffs last yr after being let go by Chicago without a deal in place Jeffery is next to go , he might even demand a trade out of Chicago if no deal is reached but allowing him to play under the tag , can only be bad for the Bears. Because Jeffery is a sure thing and will walk at the end of the season, and will get the money elsewhere without a problem or a prove ur worth kind of deal , Chicago stop being stupid, there is no wr coming out of college with Jeffrey ability for yr don’t mess this up get him under contract now . If he does happen to get hurt put something in the contract that says u can cut ties with him if an only if he is not healthy put a Claus in his contact and both sides are happy… the BEARS get a top wr for yrs to come an a running mate for white and Jeffrey gets paid but must stay healthy and on the field…..
The Bears can, if they were so inclined, Franchise tag Jeffrey two more years after the end if this season, if they don’t come to any long term deal. Realistically, they would only do it one more year as the third and final Franchised year would be cost prohibited. If he plays full year this year and excels, I’m pretty confident Bears will pay him.
If AJ turns it on, which I suspect he will, were going to be paying a whole hell of a lot more.. Id see if something can get done now. UNLESS theres some kind of indication that leads you to believe you dont want him, which I think is more the truth then this writer is saying. AJ is NOT A) avoiding OTAs nor is he B) holding out because he wants a long term deal.
I don’t think there is any question Bears, or us fans, think he is very good. I think the question is more so about him being injury prone.
The bears GM told everybody that they are working on a new deal so I’m not sure we’re u get your information from dumb ass
I hear he doesn’t like Chicago if that’s the case trade him now
This has a third option trade him . Two years in a row he warmed the bench and played half seasons. When he played he ran wrong routes and had dropped balls he should have had. He is a weak,lazy,guy who is a Brandon Marshall follower. He is not above anyone on the Bears team and with his me first Brandon Marshall attitude he should be shown the door unless he finds the strength to play a full season. If he does play a full season I still would show him the door for being disrespectful to our team and above all his Coach and Management. Next years draft hopefully will have some good receivers for us to explore if we haven’t already and there is always free agency!
This might be the dumbest comment I’ve ever read. The only accurate part is that he missed half the season last year (the year before that he actually played all 16 games – albeit, he was playing hurt at times). Whenever he has played, he has been excellent. He’s absolutely a #1 receiver when healthy. The key being his health, obviously. If the front office feels he can stay healthy for the majority of his contract, he’s worth every penny they’ll eventually give him. Otherwise, they should absolutely try to trade him if they don’t plan on resigning him. That’s the ONLY reason they should consider trading him.
This holding out for a contract sends the wrong message and hurts the team. Is it so difficult to work out wage slots like with rookies since they can’t find common ground on their own?
The knock on him coming out of. College was he wasn’t dedicated to his trade. Comes to camp out of shape, doesn’t condition well and isn’t about working hard in Practice to improve. We all know he’s talented, question is how hard is he willing to work to get that contract. Franchise tag is super smart for bears. If he can’t stay healthy tag him again or trade him next off season.
STOP please stop. You have ZERO idea why hes not at NON MANDATORY training. If it were MANDATORY that he should be there theyd call it something like MANDATORY PRACTICE?? You have ZERO clue if it A) he wants a long term deal B) he doesnt want to be in Chicago C) a multititude of other reasons D) he simply feels better about where hes training…. Id say, dont be such a drama queen, but thats your job, so you are after all an excellent drama queen!
First of all no one has heard alshon say he is unhappy nor holding out so all this speculation is bull he has always worked out away from the team in the off season a lot of players do it! he said he is focused on getting past the soft tissue injuries that has plagued his career and there’s nothing is wrong with that, now if he is a no show when the mandatory events occur and when the pads come on then there’s a problem until then calm down he knows he has to prove himself cause all too often when players get the big money they get lazy but I like that he acknowledged that he has had injuries and is focused on correcting things so until he says otherwise lets calm down and bear down cause we know what he can do when healthy plus he is smart enough to know that with a healthy Kevin white it will open him up for even more catches which means more $$!!