Earlier this month, when the NFL’s legal tampering window opened, it appeared as if former undrafted free agent Jahdae Walker was poised to become the Chicago Bears' No. 3 wide receiver heading into his second season.
Olamide Zaccheaus did not re-sign with the club, opting to return to the Atlanta Falcons on a one-year deal. With Zacchaeus out of the picture and D.J. Moore traded, it meant that Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III would slide into the WR1 and WR2 spots, and Walker would get the bump up to the WR3 spot for now.
However, things quickly changed for Walker, as the Bears brought in veteran wide receiver Kalif Raymond on a one-year, $3.5 million deal. Raymond, who spent multiple years in Detroit with head coach Ben Johnson and WRs coach Antwaan Randle-El, appeared to be Devin Duvernay's replacement, given his special teams skills.
But Johnson reportedly has plans for Raymond, who will be given a chance to compete for the third WR job, which isn’t spectacular news for Walker.
Kalif Raymond Now Stands in Jahdae Walker’s Way to Capture WR3 Job
According to Dan Pompei of The Athletic, Johnson said that he doesn’t envision Raymond being a 1,000-yard wide receiver, but he’ll have a “bigger” role than he did with the Lions.
“Is he going to be a 1,000-yard receiver?” Johnson said. “No. But I think he’s capable of a bigger role in our offense than what he had a year ago.”
Heading into this upcoming season, the Bears will be looking to replace Zaccheaus’ 65 targets, along with his void in the slot. He led Chicago in slot snaps with 267, followed by Moore at 259, per Stat Rankings. Raymond is the ideal candidate to take up a good share of those based on what he’s done with the Lions.
Last season in Detroit, Raymond played his third-most offensive snaps during his Lions’ tenure (358) and had 24 receptions (30 targets) for 289 yards and a touchdown. The veteran dual-threat also saw the third-most slot snaps in the Lions’ offense (132), and that was without Johnson as his OC.
Raymond Has Thrived Under Johnson
When Johnson was the Lions’ offensive coordinator between 2022 and 2024, the veteran wideout averaged 135 snaps in the slot. Therefore, it's not out of the realm of possibility to think that the ex-Lion won’t be a formidable opponent for Walker.
As for Walker, he didn’t spend much time in the slot, playing 25 snaps compared to 44 snaps in the X spot. With all that being said, if Johnson is looking for a pure slot wide receiver, Raymond has the edge over Walker in that category.
Raymond might not be the fastest wide receiver at his age and size, but he knows what Johnson brings to the table as an offensive mind, having spent multiple years within this offense. Now, what works in Walker’s favor is that he is the younger wide receiver and showed up when the team needed him late last season in the big moments.
However, Johnson isn’t handing the starting WR3 job over to the young receiver despite those moments, which means he has to prove himself again. And we know Walker is capable of doing it, as he made the team as an undrafted free agent last summer.