Bear Digest

Niche free agents create possible Bears roster holes to fill

A few key special teams players are out of contract in March and the Bears have options to replace them but might find bringing them back makes the most sense.

Gene Chamberlain

DeAndre Carter's receiver skills haven't been explored much by the Bears but it wouldn't be surprsing to see Ben Johnson try.
DeAndre Carter's receiver skills haven't been explored much by the Bears but it wouldn't be surprsing to see Ben Johnson try. / Christine Tannous/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
In this story:

With so many critical needs at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football, it's easy to forget with free agency and the draft approaching how the Bears have niche needs to fill.

In fact, they're niche needs most teams tend to solve by looking around the league at experienced availability rather than in the draft. So free agency and waivers are more relevant here.

The two positions are on special teams and they're long snapper and return man, both for kicks and punts.

The easy way out of their need at long snapper is either signing Scott Daly, who did this for them last year, or Patrick Scales, who has been with the team since 2015 but missed all of last year after back surgery to repair a disc.

They did get a couple of key kicks blocked in back-to-back games last year but no one was outwardly blaming Daly long snaps for either happening. Daly also did something very unique and that's tie for the league lead among long snappers in making tackles.

There were no other long snapping issues and considering Scales just turned 37 this week, the direction for the future would appear obvious for the Bears.

As a Chicago area native and Downers Grove South grad, Daly is a perfect fit to continue in this capacity.

Money isn't an issue with long snappers as Scales' cap hit was only about $150,000 more than Daly.

The other niche need isn't so easy to address. DeAndre Carter is a free agent. His contribution as a receiver was nine catches and his punt return average of 9.3 yards was the best the Bears have had since for a regular punt returner since Jakeem Grant averaged 13.9 in 2021.

Carter did have a mishap with a bouncing punt that struck him but usually was sure-handed fielding punts.

What Carter really did well was return kickoffs. He and the Bears had the new rules figured out better than many teams and he averaged 31.9 yards a return, 6.8 yards better than his previous best.

Whether the Bears bring Carter back with another contract will probably depend upon availability of better options. His real positive is the ability to return both kicks and punts.

If you can get a return man who does both well and also contributes occasionally on offense, it's maxing out the position. Carter can help on offense, but it's always possible an available player can do some of these different.

Speculation runs rampant about salary cap cuts at this time of year with the deadline now less than a month away.

One player whose skills would match a Bears need as a return man and as a receiver is Lions receiver Kalif Raymond. He knows Ben Johnson's offense, has been one of the league's better punt returners over the last four years but really hasn't been a kick returner since 2020 with the Titans.

The reason Raymond's name gets bandied about is because he's one of the more well paid return men in the league at $6.37 cap cost for this season.

The Lions really are not in a situation where they're strapped for cash. They are top 10 for cap space available and the amount being talked about with Raymond is low enough of a figure that it's not going to mean much. In fact, if he's cut before June 1 there is virtually no savings for them as Overthecap.com says it's $3.27 million but comes with a $3.1 million dead cap hit. And after June 1 there is no cap savings, only a dead cap hit.

So it's difficult to believe Detroit would consider Raymond expendable when he provides both experienced depth and return skills.

Carter caught as many as 46 passes for the Chargers at one point in his career and at age 32 this year he's only a year older than Raymond. It wouldn't be a stretch of the imagination to think Johnson woud find he can be of use as an extra slot receiver.

The end result for the Bears might be retaining Carter with a new contract and letting him learn the new offense, like everyone else.

More Chicago Bears News

Twitter: BearsOnSI

Published
Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.