Chicago Bears Free Agency: 5 bargain wide receivers
By Ryan Heckman
Travis Benjamin
If all the Bears want to do is add speed, should they cut Gabriel, then Travis Benjamin is one heck of a candidate to fill those shoes.
This would actually be a bit ironic. Once upon a time, Gabriel played for the Cleveland Browns and later ended up on the Bears. Like Gabriel, Benjamin’s first NFL team was the Browns.
Benjamin had his best season as a pro back in 2015 with the Browns, when he was catching passes from three different quarterbacks: Josh McCown, Johnny Manziel and Austin Davis.
That year, it didn’t matter who the quarterback was. Benjamin continued to produce. He ended the season with 68 receptions for 966 yards and five touchdowns.
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With the Bears, Benjamin would be mostly a guy who stretches the field, like he has been for other teams. Taking the top off the defense is something Gabriel has done in the past, which the Bears can use — if Trubisky decides to throw it deep, that is.
We know that, ideally, Nagy would like versatile weapons within his offense. Thankfully, Benjamin can do a little bit of everything. He’s rushed 36 times over his career for 268 yards and a long of 45. He can also return punts, should the Bears somehow move on from Tarik Cohen (maybe via trade).