Chicago Bears: Top five offensive free agents to stay away from

2. TE Jimmy Graham

It’s well known that the Bears should add to their tight end group this year. After seeing Zach Miller go down with one of the worst football injuries you will ever see, and Dion Sims just not panning out, it is absolutely time to get a new face or two in at this position.

Adam Shaheen certainly looks as though he could eventually break out. He was finally trusted by Dowell Loggains to run routes more often in the second half of the season last year, and looked very good at times. Looking at Nagy’s offense, there will definitely be more in store for Shaheen in 2018.

But, with how often you see teams using two tight ends – as I’ve said in previous pieces – it is imperative for Chicago to go after another legitimate candidate here. Unfortunately, I do not believe Jimmy Graham is that guy.

Sure, last year he saw lots of red zone action. Graham caught 10 touchdowns last season. But, it still felt as though he wasn’t himself. The Seattle Seahawks have gotten some grief for not truly using Graham from the moment they traded for him. But, maybe they started to see something we didn’t.

Graham has taken a lot of hits throughout his career, especially playing like a wide receiver and being able to go over the middle often. Are the hits catching up to him? Is his age limiting him sooner than he may have liked to see?

Regardless of the reasoning, Graham is a shell of his former self, no matter how many touchdowns he scored last year. I don’t think he could necessarily improve on 2017 as he will only be a year older in 2018, so Pace needs to look elsewhere at tight end.