Why Some Are Laughing At Bears Fans' Panic of Losing Alshon Jeffery

The Chicago Bears Alshon Jeffery situation is coming to a head. After failing to reach a long-term contract agreement in 2016, it was hoped the franchise tag might be them time to work something out. As the weeks pass by though, the signs are growing that the 26-year old wide receiver may have played his last season in Chicago. https://twitter.com/AaronLemingNFL/status/831258926389686272 https://twitter.com/AaronLemingNFL/status/831259560312582144 The Bears seems to think Jeffery isn't worth top five money, which goes above the $15 million per year mark. His camp seems to disagree. Both sides have their points. When thrown to often enough in a game, Jeffery has that ability to take over drives, quarters and halves out of nowhere. Then again he continues to struggle staying healthy and didn't help his cause by getting suspended for a PED violation. Throw in the fact that he wasn't drafted by GM Ryan Pace and it's understandable why the two sides haven't found common ground. Perhaps there may yet be hope for something to get worked out, but the number of doubts are growing. Could this be a colossal blunder in the making for Chicago?

A NEW ERA

Is this potential crisis really a crisis at all? Would losing Jeffery to free agency utterly derail the entire Bears passing attack? No. At least not based on recent NFL history. Several teams around the league have actually lost Pro Bowl-caliber receivers multiple times. Not only did they successfully find replacements, but they never saw much of a dip in their capacity to win football games. Here is a short list of examples.

Pittsburgh Steelers

• Drafted Plaxico Burress (2000)
• Drafted Antwaan Randle El (2002)
• Drafted Heath Miller (2005)
• Drafted Santonio Holmes (2006)
• Drafted Mike Wallace (2009)
• Drafted Antonio Brown (2010)
• Drafted Emmanuel Sanders (2010)
• Drafted Martavis Bryant (2014)

Won two Super Bowls across that stretch

New York Giants

• Signed Plaxico Burress (2005)
• Drafted Steve Smith (2007)
• Drafted Mario Manningham (2008)
• Drafted Hakeem Nicks (2009)
• Drafted Rueben Randle (2012)
• Drafted Odell Beckham (2014)
• Drafted Sterling Shepard (2016)

Won two Super Bowls across that stretch

New England Patriots

• Traded for Randy Moss (2007)
• Traded for Wes Welker (2007)
• Drafted Julian Edelman (2009)
• Drafted Rob Gronkowski (2010)
• Drafted Aaron Hernandez (2010)
• Signed Danny Amendola (2013)
• Traded for Martellus Bennett (2016)
• Drafted Malcolm Mitchell (2016)

Won two Super Bowls across that stretch

New Orleans Saints

• Drafted Dont'e Stallworth (2002)
• Drafted Devery Henderson (2004)
• Drafted Marques Colston (2006)
• Drafted Robert Meachem (2007)
• Drafted Jimmy Graham (2010)
• Drafted Kenny Stills (2013)
• Drafted Brandin Cooks (2014)
• Drafted Michael Thomas (2016)

Won a Super Bowl across that stretch

Cincinnati Bengals

• Drafted Chad Johnson (2001)
• Drafted T.J. Houshmandzadeh (2001)
• Drafted Chris Henry (2005)
• Drafted Jerome Simpson (2008)
• Drafted Andre Caldwell (2008)
• Drafted A.J. Green (2011)
• Drafted Mohamed Sanu (2012)
• Drafted Marvin Jones (2012)
• Drafted Tyler Boyd (2016)

Seven playoff appearances across that span. What is the point to this list? Well there are two as it turns out. First of all, thanks to the very nature of the game today, wide receivers are in more abundance for talent than any other position in football. They constantly say it's a passing league. In order to make that true, the league requires many able athlete who can play that position.

First Things First

Many of those names listed above were often found in later rounds. Antonio Brown was a sixth rounder. Julian Edelman and Marques Colston were both seventh rounders. Finding replacements for Jeffery won't be as hard as people think. Don't forget that Cameron Meredith got done posting 888 yards in his second season for Chicago, and he was an undrafted free agent. [video width="854" height="480" mp4="https://www.sportsmockery.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Matt-Barkley-Tosses-a-TD-Strike-to-Cameron-Meredith-Redskins-vs.-Bears-NFL-Week-16-Highlights.mp4"][/video] There is also the other notable fact. All of the teams listed above had either elite or Pro Bowl quarterbacks. The point being that receivers can rarely become great without one. Is Julio Jones really that incredible or does Matt Ryan have a considerable impact on it? Was Jerry Rice the greatest ever purely on his own skills, or did having Hall of Famers like Joe Montana and Steve Young throwing him the ball elevate everything? Keeping Jeffery won't solve anything for the Bears. Not until they finally get a quarterback in place who can elevate the players around them. If Alshon were such a game-changing receiver they can't afford to lose, the Bears would not have a 24-39 record in contests where he played. He's not an elite receiver. Period. End of story. If the Bears lose him, it's an unfortunate bump in the road that will be forgotten in a short time if they get their quarterback.