Chicago Bears Rumors: Sammy Watkins to hit market, three teams in the mix
By Ryan Heckman
Another potential domino is close to falling as a big name could be headed to the Chicago Bears.
Early on after the NFL season ended, most thought they knew what the Los Angeles Rams were going to do with Sammy Watkins. After all, they traded a second round pick for the former Clemson standout. Why wouldn’t they keep him? Regardless, the Rams’ potential loss may be the Chicago Bears’ gain.
The indication right away was that Watkins would get the franchise tag. Some thought that would be too much money for a guy who gave the Rams 590 receiving yards last season and, at times, looked like their third-best wide receiver.
Now, a highly respected source has come out saying quite the opposite. In fact, the Rams are not expected to use the tag on Watkins. Rather, safety Lamarcus Joyner is the likely candidate.
With that becoming clearer, it appears as though Watkins may not be a Ram in the near future. Ian Rapoport is the one who broke the story on Friday, suggesting that the Rams would be in the mix, along with two other teams, for Watkins’ services.
Check out a snippet of what Rapoport had to say:
"“If he becomes a free agent, consider that Landry has already been tagged … there are not a lot of free agent receivers out there. Sammy Watkins is going to be a hot commodity and we know already some of the receiver-needy teams … the 49ers of course would be one, pretty close by for Sammy Watkins … the Bears would be another.”"
The question then becomes, does Watkins make sense for the Bears? Over his four year career, Watkins has only played an entire season once — his rookie campaign. He has missed a total of 12 games over three years, mostly due to nagging injuries in or around his feet.
There have even been several games where Watkins has suited up, but failed to make an impact because it was clear he was not 100 percent. So, is he worth pursuing? Personally, I don’t think so.
Sure, he caught eight touchdowns last year and, when healthy, he can be an electric talent. But, the risk might be too much for the Bears to take on a guy who simply hasn’t been able to stay healthy.
https://twitter.com/BovadaLV/status/911051877038612480
The plus side of a Watkins acquisition for Chicago is that he is only 24 years old. But, how much are the Bears willing to spend versus the money Watkins will demand? There is yet another question.
Whether or not he is worth going after is not the point, though, as it appears Ryan Pace has already alluded to having interest in Watkins, one way or another. Rapoport is very rarely wrong, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see the Bears make a splash and take a chance like this.