Could Chicago Bears reunite Allen Hurns with teammate Allen Robinson?

Why it makes sense

1. Reunited and it feels so good

There are a number of reasons why it absolutely makes sense for Ryan Pace to consider signing Allen Hurns.

First, the insanely successful 2015 campaign he had with Robinson comes to mind.  During that season, Hurns and Robinson were practically unstoppable.  Hurns finished the year with 64 receptions, 1031 yards, and 10 touchdowns.  Robinson did even better, finishing with 80 receptions, 1400 yards, and 14 touchdowns.

That’s a total of 2431 receiving yards and 24 touchdowns.  The Chicago Bears would absolutely kill for that kind of production from its top two receivers.  Imagine surrounding Mitch Trubisky with two playmaking wide receivers.

Then, throw in new additions Taylor Gabriel and Trey Burton, and the Bears will have exponentially upgraded their talent level on offense.

The Bears could arguably turn last year’s most glaring weakness into arguably its biggest strength.  If the goal is to surround Trubisky with weapons, the addition of Hurns would certainly help accomplish that goal.

2. Hurns and Robinson like playing together

As mentioned above, the Chicago Bears have added a number of pieces through free agency.

Without a doubt, the team’s makeup will be different when they report to training camp.  It also goes without saying that it will take the new players some time to assimilate to playing in a new city.

When the Bears signed Allen Robinson, they did so with the thought of him being the future.  They understand that he is just entering his prime years.  The Bears expect him to grow with Trubisky over the course of their careers.  Therefore, it would be in the Bears’ best interest to make Robinson’s transition as smooth as possible.

One way to do that would be to surround him with a familiar face.  It’s evident from Allen Robinson’s tweet above that he certainly wants Hurns in Chicago.  It is also evident from Allen Hurns’ twitter response that the feeling appears mutual.

https://twitter.com/A1hurns/status/976117714187059200

And as Robinson begins to learn a brand new offense, it would help to have an old teammate on the field going through the same experience.  They obviously have an established relationship.

This could help expedite the learning process for each player, especially considering they know how each other operates on the field.

3. Insurance for Cam Meredith

Cameron Meredith is currently a restricted free agent.  In addition, the Bears have placed a fairly low tender on him (original round at $1.9M).  Therefore, other teams will likely be enticed to make an offer.  In fact, a recent cryptic tweet from Meredith may suggest that is already happening.

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Granted, Meredith is coming off of an ACL injury.  So perhaps teams are unlikely to make a significant offer.  It is also possible Ryan Pace placed a low tender on him to entice other offers to establish the market.

As we know, the Bears have a ton of cap space, so maybe they’d like to lock him up long term once the market establishes his value.

However, a team may blow Meredith away with an offer.  He is still fairly young at 25 years old.  He has also flashed the potential to be a top end number two wide receiver.  If other teams see the same potential, they may make an offer Pace simply can’t match.

Therefore, it is conceivable that Pace tries to preempt losing Meredith in free agency by signing Hurns.  If he’s concerned at all that he might lose Meredith in free agency, he may prefer the certainty of signing Hurns.  The Bears absolutely need a quality number two receiver.  If it’s not Meredith, then Hurns might be a decent backup plan.