It isn’t a secret the Chicago Bears are light on proven wide receivers. Darnell Mooney is by far their best target. He and Justin Fields are building some impressive chemistry. Beyond him, it gets dicey. After signing in April, Byron Pringle was supposed to be the #2 guy. He’s missed much of training camp with a quad injury. Rookie 3rd round pick Velus Jones has potential but has also dealt with health setbacks. That leaves names like Equanimeous St. Brown and Tajae Sharpe as secondary options for Fields. Not ideal.
This is why there is a strong possibility GM Ryan Poles could be eyeing final cutdowns on August 30th, when teams must reduce their rosters to 53 players. It isn’t crazy to think one or two viable wide receiver options will become available. The Bears sit high in the waiver wire pecking order, so it would give them a reasonable chance to land one. One name sticks out when looking at likely options: New York Giants veteran Darius Slayton.
According to Dan Duggan of The Athletic, he’s been on the trade block for months. Now buried on the depth chart, the writing is on the wall for the former 5th round pick.
Surprised some people are surprised by my report of Darius Slayton being on the trading block. He has a $2.5M cap hit this year. Giants can try to find the next Slayton in this year’s fifth round for a cap hit of $800K. More here: https://t.co/enajs6mOVT pic.twitter.com/uLslF3KFek
— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) April 25, 2022
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Chicago Bears have good reasons to eye Slayton.
While nobody would accuse him of being a star, the veteran has been relatively productive through his first three seasons, averaging 610 yards and four touchdowns per year. Much of his regression over the past year wasn’t his fault. It had a lot to do with injuries at the quarterback position (Daniel Jones missed six games) and playing under three different offensive coordinators in three years. He’s never had a chance to get settled.
The Chicago Bears might offer him a chance for a fresh start. Not only that, but they have one additional advantage. Tyke Tolbert is their wide receivers coach. He was with the Giants in 2019 when they drafted Slayton. He played a pivotal role in developing the young pass-catcher. A reunion might help make the transition as smooth as possible. Poles needs options at the position. He could do a lot worse than Slayton.
Another guy I would keep an eye out for is Denzel Mims. He is currently buried on the Jets depth chart and has also been rumored to be on their trade block recently.
I expect they will sign somebody like Slayton around cut down day and possibly another veteran after week 1 of the season. Need some guys to get healthy. V. Jones needs to play in these next two fake games to get some time in the system and some film to work on.