Chicago Bears: Cutting McBride after harsh words with Bellamy a bad move

You thought no Battle of the Bums could eclipse Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis? The Chicago Bears are asking you to hold their beer for a second.

In the aftermath of wide receiver Tre McBride’s release yesterday, reports surfaced that McBride and Josh Bellamy were the primary antagonists in a loud Halas Hall argument on Monday. Though John Fox refused to elaborate on the issue (of course he did), multiple reports confirmed that McBride was indeed involved in the scuffle.

Aside from inconsistent play, it appears that this may be a larger reason behind McBride’s sudden departure.

And the fact that he was arguing with Bellamy just makes the situation that much more entertaining.

If you remember, it was Bellamy that displaced McBride on the receiver depth chart following the latter’s 92-yard receiving performance against the New Orleans Saints in Week 8.

Then, following an injury to Bellamy, McBride resumed his role, catching a few late passes against Detroit and playing the majority of the offensive snaps last Sunday against Philadelphia.

I can only wish that the fight went something like this: Bellamy makes a snide comment about McBride not playing much; McBride promptly telling Bellamy how bad he is and that he deserves those snaps; and Bellamy then crying to John Fox, who loves him with an irrational love, about how he can’t work alongside McBride anymore.

Now, I’m not going to pretend that McBride is a particularly good player.

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He doesn’t run great routes, especially against man coverage, but we knew that already. Then again, who aside from Kendall Wright or Dontrelle Inman perhaps is running great routes? Bellamy? Not really.

In truth, we haven’t seen THAT much, though he showed glimpses of productivity when the Chicago Bears actually drew up plays for him.

And admittedly, Bellamy’s value as a special teamer continues to protect him despite his inability to consistently catch the football.

But with the Chicago Bears offense already lacking even decent contributors, cutting a player because he got mad at a coach’s favorite seems completely ridiculous.

For goodness’ sake, their best receivers right now are Dontrelle Inman and Kendall Wright. Bellamy has never been worth much as a pass-catcher. Markus Wheaton, another Bears free agent bust, has one catch on the season. Tarik Cohen, for all intents and purposes, is a receiver now, and they don’t throw him the ball either.

You mean to tell me McBride yelling at Bellamy deserved that kind of response?

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In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter that much. McBride would’ve been a roster bubble guy next season even if he had stayed along. We probably won’t remember him much when this season is over.

But for right now, particularly for a team already thin at receiver, I’m not sure what the point of cutting McBride was if all he and Bellamy did was argue.

Perhaps it was just the last straw for the Bears after them being dissatisfied with him, whether in his performance or preparation. Who can tell right now?

But at the moment, it just looks as if John Fox is confirming his own words in regards to this roster move.