Outside of the exciting and controversial finish between the Bears and Steelers on Monday Night Football, the buzz around the NFL has been where Odell Beckham Jr. will end up. The polarizing wide receiver cleared waivers on Tuesday, allowing him to sign wherever he pleases. The Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, Las Vegas Raiders and New England Patriots have all been rumored as possible destinations, but what about the Bears? Beckham Jr. is no longer regarded as a top-tier wideout like he was, but he is still very talented and would add a receiving threat to Matt Nagy’s offense that has lacked pop throughout the first half.
On paper, it looks like it would be a good fit. But in reality, it seems incredibly unlikely that the two sides would come to an agreement.
Let’s start from the Bears’ side of things. Monday notwithstanding, when Fields threw for a career-high 291 yards, the passing game has not been very explosive. But that has more to do with ongoing chemistry development, and an overall lack of passing attempts, than it has to do with a lack of ability or talent. Since the Bears were also bringing along Andy Dalton as their QB1 over training camp, Fields didn’t get the valuable reps with Allen Robinson needed to develop a rapport on the field. But it appears that relationship is starting to come along.
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More importantly however, there aren’t many targets to go around in the Bears’ passing attack. Since he took over as the Bears’ starting quarterback, Fields has averaged only 24.6 pass attempts per game. With Robinson and Darnell Mooney and Cole Kmet needing targets too, that doesn’t give much room for Beckham Jr. to carve out a role. And clearly when Beckham Jr. doesn’t have a significant role in an offense, it’s a problem. That’s a distraction the Bears don’t need, especially as they try to develop Fields into a franchise quarterback.
But Beckham Jr. probably wouldn’t want to come to Chicago either. From his perspective, there’s almost no chance of the Bears making the playoffs. From a production standpoint, teaming up with a rookie quarterback is not usually a recipe for instant success and big numbers either. It would make far more sense for him to team up with Aaron Rodgers or Russell Wilson or Patrick Mahomes. All three of those QBs are certified studs, and they could all use an additional playmaker too.
At this point it’s anyone’s guess where Beckham Jr. will ultimately land. But one safe guess is that it won't be Chicago.
