For pretty much the entire offseason it’s been a given that Chicago Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffery would play out this season on the franchise tag, with a long-term deal coming after the season. It turns out the Bears had a different plan.
According to ESPN, the Bears and Jeffery have been working on a long-term deal and, with about three weeks to go before the July 15 deadline, could get it done.
Jeffery played in only nine games last season with injury issues, but still averaged 89.7 yards per game. He finished the season with 54 catches, 807 yards and four touchdowns. That was after back-to-back thousand yard seasons. There’s no reason to believe Jefferey is injury prone, but that worry seems to be the reason the Bears were reluctant to go ahead and do a long-term deal. They’ve apparently had second thoughts.
There’s good reason for that. According to Pro Football Focus, Jeffery was the third highest graded wideout in the league last year… when he played.
Highest-graded NFL WRs in 2015:
1. @AntonioBrown84, 96.5
2. @juliojones_11, 96.0
3. @TeamJeffery_, 94.2
4. @ajgreen_18, 92.1— PFF (@PFF) June 21, 2016
The Bears have shed too many playmakers this offseason, trading tight end Martellus Bennett to the New England Patriots and letting running back Matt Forte go in free agency. They can’t afford to lose Jeffery or even piss him off. Not with all the money they have to pay quarterback Jay Cutler.
Bowles thinks Marshall is fat
Brandon Marshall had the best season of his life in 2015. He led the NFL with 14 touchdown receptions, caught 109 passes and racked up 1,502 yards. Evidently he did all that while being a great big fatty.
That is according to New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles. Bowles has asked Marshall to drop some weight this offseason, about five pounds. Bowles wants Marshall under 230. He’s usually around 235.
#ToddBowlesDiet @PROJECT375 pic.twitter.com/1T2S0Iso69
— BEAST (@BMarshall) June 20, 2016
“This is the face you make when Todd Bowles says I want you below 230 all season,” Marshall says in the video. “… ‘You were so fast in Miami. That’s where I want you at.'”
I’m not sure what Marshall normally eats on his off days, but evidently it’s not grouper and blueberries. Were they all out of acorns? What the hell kind of food combination is that?
Marshall seems to be taking it all in fun. He’s the kind of guy that’s up for a challenge and getting faster at age 32 is just going to make him more dangerous. That is, if the Jets have a quarterback on the roster that can get him the ball.
Arian Foster wants to be ready for camp. Will any team be ready for him?
Arian Foster has yet to fully recover from the Achilles injury he suffered last October and, needless to say, it’s hurt his job prospects. Tuesday Foster told ESPN that he expects to be fully healthy by training camp. Which training camp will that be? No one can say right now.
Foster is still a free agent after the Houston Texans cut him in March. Foster spent a lot of the last three seasons hurt, but still managed to gain 1,246 yards and score eight touchdowns in 2014. If he can stay healthy he’d be an asset to any roster, especially a contender. But that’s a big “if.”
Foster’s health seems to have become an issue ever since he announced he’s a vegan, and while I’m not a scientist, I think that putting your body through what an NFL running back has to endure without eating animal protein, but it can’t be good. Our bodies aren’t made for football anyway and to deny yourself its most potent fuel seems like a recipe for disaster. Or injured reserve.
Do you remember Davone Bess?
You will now, because the former NFL wide receiver was arrested Monday night after a standoff with police where he was waving a knife and mimicking firing a gun with his fingers. It all started at a traffic stop and ended up with a warrant to enter his house and an appearance by the Gilbert, Ariz. SWAT team.
Bess played six seasons in the NFL from 2008-2013 for the Miami Dolphins and Cleveland Browns. His best season was 201o when he caught 79 passes for 820 yards and five touchdowns for the Dolphins. He played one season in Cleveland, but his stint there, and his career, came to an end after he was arrested for punching a cop in Florida.
