Up to this point Chicago Bears fans have trust GM Ryan Pace to know what he's doing. Thus far the results were intriguing. The roster is much younger and flashed numerous signs of playmaking potential. Unfortunately thus far the winning hasn't come around. The team went from 6-10 in 2015 to 3-13 this past season. At what point should he start feeling the heat?
Some believe it's about to pass what with the announcement that Chicago refused to franchise tag wide receiver Alshon Jeffery. Many believe this is a colossal blunder in the making. Jeffery is one of the best offensive players on the roster. Letting him go for nothing could set the entire team back right when they can least afford it.
This will count as one of the first roster moves that can be categorizes as a true risk on the part of Pace. With others like Brandon Marshall, Martellus Bennett and Matt Forte the reasoning was clear and understood. At this point all people have are theories. Does Pace have a plan? If it involves another certain pending free agent, then yes.
The other big receiver name set to hit the market besides Jeffery is none other than Terrelle Pryor. What a career journey this young man has had. A quarterback at Ohio State, he was a third round pick in the supplemental draft by the Oakland Raiders. After three uneven seasons, made stops with three other teams before finally landing with the Cleveland Browns. There they made a suggestion: why not try switching to receiver?
It made sense. Pryor is a rangy 6'4" with legitimate vertical speed, having posted a 4.38/40 time during his pro day. Some felt his intelligence and knowledge of the game would make the transition seamless. They were right. In his first full year as a receiver, Pryor posted 1,007 yards and four touchdowns.
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It became apparent as the season went on that he's only getting better and is just 27-years old. What adds even more fascination to this development is the fact that the Browns have refused to use the franchise tag on him in order to ensure he can't leave when free agency begins March 9th. Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported as much.
"The Browns still have no plans to franchise receiver Terrelle Pryor, a league source told cleveland.com. The deadline to do so is Wednesday at 4 p.m. The franchise number for wide receivers will be upwards of $15 million for 2017. The Browns hope to sign Pryor to a long-term deal before he hits the open market March 9."It seems the Browns are confident they can get a long-term deal worked out with Pryor before the new league year begins. They have plenty of spending money (over $103 million) and the young man has said he'd love to stay in Cleveland and continue working with head coach Hue Jackson. The same man who drafted in Oakland back in 2011. That being said the NFL is a crazy business. Anything could get in the way of negotiations that might lead him to seek a new home. So of course the next inevitable question comes up. Why would the Bears make a run at Pryor since he's likely to demand the same amount of money as Jeffery? A number of reasons. He's bigger and faster. He doesn't get hurt. Like Cameron Meredith he brings a quarterback intelligence to the position, hence the rapid progress. Most of all, he embodies what this team seeks in its players.
Fox and Pace want guys who are full throttle day and night. Guys who are all about football. Kyle Long, Pernell McPhee, and Leonard Floyd to name a few. That's never seemed like the case with Jeffery. His off-the-field activities and general inconsistency at times reflects a player who struggles to find motivation at times. The exact concern that followed him from college. A Terrelle Pryor Bears connection would be difficult. Even if he somehow slipped out of Cleveland, there would be a host of other teams waiting for a chance to sign him. That means Pace would have to be aggressive. Luckily he'll have Fox, a man known for his ability to be a convincing and likable guy. Landing him would be a coup.
