3 Former Bears Who Failed Miserably With Their New Teams in Week 1

The grass isn't always going to be greener for players who bolt in the offseason via free agency, and sometimes it takes them learning that the hard way. The Chicago Bears have been rebuilding/reloading for the last handful of years under general manager Ryan Poles and Poles has done a good job of shaping this roster to properly support his young quarterback -- #1 overall pick Caleb Williams -- here in the 2024 season.

The Bears' retooling in the 2024 offseason led to a handful of notable departures, and as is typically the case, it's interesting to keep one eye on those departed players and see what they're up to and what kind of impact they're making.

Some made bigger impacts than others...

Which Bears players struggled the most with their new teams in Week 1?

1. Darnell Mooney, Wide Receiver, Falcons

It wasn't a great opening week for the Atlanta Falcons in general. The Falcons lost their 2024 season opener -- their home opener -- and looked rough all-around against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

New quarterback Kirk Cousins was supposed to come in and raise the floor across the board offensively for the Falcons, where there were a lot of new pieces to fit together. One of those new pieces is former Bears wide receiver Darnell Mooney, who signed a three-year deal worth $39 million in total money this offseason.

That was a rather surprising figure for Mooney in free agency and I'm not sure anyone really anticipated he would live up to the lofty status that comes along with that pay grade. Mooney caught one of his three targets in the Falcons' season-opening loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers for 15 yards. We'll see what his involvement looks like as the season continues to plod along, but the Falcons have a lot of mouths to feed and Mooney could get the short end of the stick before too long.

He needs to maximize every target to be most effective.