Chicago Bears free agency: Paul Richardson better value than Jarvis Landry?

Though all eyes are focused on Jarvis Landry in free agency, should the Chicago Bears end up signing someone like Paul Richardson instead?

Right now, Jarvis Landry is the hot wide receiver name about to (likely) hit the free agent market that Chicago Bears fans everywhere are clamoring for. In fact, we at Da Windy City have already discussed the merits and pitfalls of signing him.

Without a doubt, Landry would bring plenty of pedigree as a pass-catcher to the Bears. He has topped 100 catches in each of his first four seasons, including a 112-catch, 987-yard, nine-touchdown season last year.

And with the Bears looking to employ a West Coast/spread offensive hybrid that can work to Mitch Trubisky’s short and intermediate accuracy, Landry would certainly fit well here in Chicago.

However, is Landry truly the best free agent wide receiver for the value you’d be getting?

Landry will want around $14 million per season as a free agent, putting him just outside the realm of top receivers like Antonio Brown and Julio Jones. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not sold that a guy who averages barely over 10.1 yards per catch (8.8 in 2017) and is dependent on breaking tackles to make big plays is quite worth that money.

Perhaps the scheme fit will be too much to deny for Ryan Pace in Landry’s case. Who knows? But whether or not he’s worth that contract for the Chicago Bears remains a valid question.

Someone who might actually provide more value for less money could be emerging young Seattle Seahawks receiver Paul Richardson.

Finally receiving more chances to contribute, Richardson broke out as a big-play threat last season. On the year he caught 44 balls for 704 yards (16.1 yards per catch) and six touchdowns.

And if you’re looking for a guy with both speed and ability to make contested catches downfield, Richardson is undoubtedly more that guy than Landry.

After all, you can’t just have a group of receivers that no one fears beating them over the top. That, among other things, plagued the Chicago Bears last season. Watch Landry run on film, and you will not see him burning people and catching the ball down the field.

Eventually, teams will just play Cover 2, make tackles underneath and just squeeze you to death. Regardless of how good Landry is at what he does, he can’t break every single tackle. And you’re relying on that as an offense, you have big problems.

Sure, the Bears need to grab guys to catch balls over the middle of the field to help Trubisky. And they proved last year that they can do that fairly cheap (take Kendall Wright, for example).

But you don’t always have chances to grab young, emerging talents that can really hit home runs for you.

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Now, Richardson has struggled some with injuries and inconsistency, as did basically Seattle’s entire offense last season. And injury concerns especially could worry Ryan Pace in terms of signing him. On the other hand, Landry has yet to miss a game in four seasons, which will certainly factor into the equation.

As such, there’s certainly more risk and uncertainty in signing Richardson versus Landry.

That said, Richardson’s upside seems undeniably higher than Landry’s, which is something Pace also loves. Fans like that you know more or less what you’re going to get with Landry every year, but again, Pace often looks for that something a bit more than that. And he doesn’t mind taking a risk if he believes in a guy.

Plus, Richardson’s contract demands will likely only be half of what Landry wants—about $6-7 million a year. Not only is that extremely doable, but it would be a really solid deal for the kind of talent the Bears would be getting.

For example, I would much rather give that money to Richardson than Markus Wheaton. No question about that.

Pair that with Cameron Meredith and whatever rookie receiver is drafted, along with Adam Shaheen and Tarik Cohen catching passes out of the backfield, and you have a young, dynamic and versatile group capable of attacking defenses at every level.

Next: Should Chicago Bears explore Muhammad Wilkerson?

I’m not saying that Landry wouldn’t help the Chicago Bears. He certainly would. But an ascending Richardson on a cheap deal likely aids the Bears even more in the long run.

And if they don’t sign Richardson, they ought to try to find a similar player. Because if they don’t, the receiver position could get a little redundant.