Alshon Jeffery played last season on the franchise tag, and now he's headed for free agency. The Bears are unlikely to tag him again, as it would cost them over $17 million to do so.
Certainly there's some risk inherent in a player who followed up back to back 1,000-yard seasons with poor ones. Due to injuries and a four-game suspension last year, he's missed 11 of a possible 32 games the last two years. But although he hasn't put up difference-making numbers with those missed games, he's been very solid on a per-game basis.
In each of the last four seasons, Jeffery has averaged 4-6 receptions for roughly 70-90 yards. Had he played all 16 games, he'd have gone over 1,000 yards in all those years. Not that the missed time isn't a factor, plus he's caught only 6 TDs the last two years. But the Bears have used a number of different quarterbacks in those seasons, too. Jeffery's a legit No. 1 who'd be a dramatic upgrade to several teams in need of wideout help.
Baltimore? Philadelphia? Maybe Washington, which expects to lose its top 2 wideouts to free agency? Somebody will pay Jeffery for his potential.
Jeffery's seasonal stats and per-game numbers over the last four years are shown below.
| JEFFERY, LAST FOUR SEASONS | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | G | Rec | Yds | TD | Avg Rec | Avg Yds | Avg TD |
| 2013 | 16 | 89 | 1,421 | 7 | 6 | 89 | 0.4 |
| 2014 | 16 | 85 | 1,133 | 10 | 5 | 71 | 0.6 |
| 2015 | 9 | 54 | 807 | 4 | 6 | 90 | 0.4 |
| 2016 | 12 | 52 | 821 | 2 | 4 | 68 | 0.2 |
--Andy Richardson