Since January, discussions concerning the Chicago Bears’ offseason have almost exclusively revolved around one thing: the quarterback.
Chicago Bears At A Critical Juncture At The Quarterback Position
First it was about the departure of former starter, Justin Fields, who was eventually traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a day 3 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft; and subsequently concerned the selection of 1st overall pick, Caleb Williams, and whether he could break the long-standing Bears QB curse, who have yet to find a bona fide franchise quarterback since the days of Sid Luckman almost 80 years ago.
Having already put Williams into a unique and enviable position; forging an excellent receiving corps consisting of DJ Moore, 6 x Pro Bowler, Keenan Allen, and 2024 9th overall pick, Rome Odunze, the Bears are not yet seeing the sort of returns on their biggest investment of the millennium.
Caleb Williams Having Even More Weapons Bought In Around Him
Although Chicago will not go into panic mode about their quarterback who has yet to go into training camp, let alone start an actual regular-season game, additions to the roster have certainly been on their mind, adding former Green Bay Packers and Jacksonville Jaguars legendary tight end, Mercedes Lewis on Monday.
Now the Bears have added yet another piece to complement Williams and their passing offense, in addition to their special teams, per Jordan Schultz.
Chicago Bears Sign Dynamic Returner And Receiver, DeAndre Carter
DeAndre Carter is not exactly a household name (yet), but for die-hard football fans he will certainly ring bells for being one of the sneaky better kick and punt returners in the NFL.
Carter posted his best two seasons to date in 2021 and 2022 for the Washington Commanders and Los Angeles Chargers respectively. He posted over 1000 return yards for the Commanders (then Football Team) in 2021 before putting up over 500 yards receiving in addition to 836 return yards for the Chargers in 2022.
And although his offensive output stagnated 2023 for the Las Vegas Raiders, he still managed to put up 494 yards returning kicks and punts.
The Chicago Bears have not had a dominant return force since the departure of All-Pro, Cordarrelle Patterson, who put up over 1,000 kick return yards in 2020 before leaving for the then Arthur Smith-led Atlanta Falcons.
Now, with the kickoff rule changes in place to re-incentivize special teams units to run the ball out instead of taking touchbacks, the Bears will feel that having a returner with Pro Bowl potential and an ability to contribute as a role player on offense will be yet another valuable piece as they attempt to reclaim the NFC North division title for the first time since 2018.
