Bears Add Tight End Insurance

According to an NFL Network report, the Bears are signing former Browns tight end Stephen Carlson

The Bears may have found their third tight end at a rookie minicamp but he's no rookie.

Former Browns tight end Stephen Carlson is signing a one-year contract with the Bears according to Tom Peliserro and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Carlson was among the small group of NFL veterans given tryouts by the Bears at the two-day rookie minicamp. 

Carlson, who is 6-foot-4, 240 pounds, was an undrafted free agent in 2019 from Princeton who signed with Cleveland. He was waived, was on the practice squad and then the regular roster and was cut, then was brought back in November that year.

In 2021, Carlson suffered a season-ending knee injury during training camp and did not play in 2022.

In 25 games with seven starts for the Browns, Carlson had nine targets and six receptions for 62 yards with a touchdown.

The Bears still have undrafted free agents Jake Tonges and Chase Allen on their roster after they spent all of 2022 learning the league.

At the weekend minicamp they also had Stony Brook tight end Damien Caffrey, who signed as an undrafted free agent, and gave a rookie tryout to Utah tight end Logan Kendall.

They acquired tight end Robert Tonyan Jr. in free agency as the second tight end and backup to starter Cole Kmet.  Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy sees it as a huge addition after working with Tonyan at Green Bay.

"Bobby was a practice squad guy when I was leaving from there to go to Mississippi State (in 2018)," Getsy said. "So I got to know him for a few weeks and I came back (in 2019) to a guy who had just like transformed himself into this workaholic tough guy.

"So Bobby has transformed his game and so I think that gets contagious for anybody. I think guys are already seeing that out there. And for Cole, I think that’s exactly where he can take his game. I think Cole’s just getting better and better and better as the year went along. And I think Bobby’s going to be a really good example for him with all the experiences that he has been through, within the system even to kind of give him some cool nuances of how we can do what we do better."

And now they may have a third with experience.

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