Are Tight End Martellus Bennett’s Days with the Chicago Bears Numbered?
Published by Matt Eurich on December 11, 2015
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
Martellus Bennett‘s strong performance in 2014 helped solidify the veteran tight end’s place among the NFL‘s best at the position, but his time with the Chicago Bears could soon come to an end following an up-and-down year both on and off the field in 2015.
After registering 53 catches for 439 yards with three touchdowns in 11 games this year, the Bears placed Bennett on injured reserve earlier this week, according to the team’s official Twitter page:
On Wednesday, head coach John Fox explained why Bennett was shut down for the season, per ESPN.com’s Jeff Dickerson:
Well I think you know he got a fractured rib against Denver you know a couple weeks back, and it flared up to the point where we didn’t bring him to Green Bay. You know he tried to gut it up and go this past week and it just wasn’t going to work. The only real way to fix him is to let it rest and heal. Playing football is not real conducive to healing ribs, so we determined that injured reserve was best for us and him moving forward.
After the Bears traded former first-round pick Greg Olsen to the Carolina Panthers in July 2011 for a third-round pick, the team lacked a legitimate receiving threat at the tight end position. The Bears leaned on blocking tight ends Kellen Davis and Matt Spaeth in 2011 and 2012 before then-general manager Phil Emery signed Bennett to a four-year, $20.4 million contract in the spring of 2013.
“He’s a very good athlete with excellent size,” Emery said at the time, per Larry Mayer of ChicagoBears.com. “He’s a good receiver who runs good routes, and he’s a good blocker who still has upside in that area, to use that size and strength that he has to be an even better blocker.”
Drafted in the second round out of Texas A&M by the Dallas Cowboys in 2008, Bennett spent the first four years of his career playing behind future Hall of Fame tight end Jason Witten. He signed a one-year deal with the New York Giants in 2012 and started all 16 games that season.
In Bennett’s first season in Chicago in 2013, he flourished in then-head coach Marc Trestman‘s pass-oriented offense. He started 15 games and finished the year with 65 catches for 759 yards with five touchdowns.
In 2014, the veteran tight end became an even bigger part of Chicago’s offense. Trestman often used Bennett out of the slot or split outside like a wide receiver, and Bennett hauled in a career-high 90 catches for 916 yards with six touchdowns.
After the season concluded, Bennett was named to the Pro Bowl:
The Bears opted to clean house after their disappointing 2014 campaign, and new general manager Ryan Pace brought in Fox as the team’s new head coach, and Adam Gase joined the team as offensive coordinator.
In Gase‘s two seasons as offensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos in 2013 and 2014, tight end Julius Thomas caught 108 passes for 1,277 yards with 24 touchdowns in 27 games. Bennett appeared to be a good fit in Gase‘s system because he shares a similar skill set with Thomas, but he opted to sit out of Chicago’s voluntary minicamp in April, per the Chicago Sun-Times‘ Adam Jahns:
Just before the start of the draft, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Bennett was on the trade block:
Bennett missed all of Chicago’s voluntary workouts in hopes of securing a new contract, but he returned in June for the team’s mandatory minicamp.
“It’s just business,” he said, per the Chicago Tribune‘s Rich Campbell. “I have no hard feelings against anybody. I have several business deals this offseason that worked and didn’t work out. Some deals get done, some don’t. Still have to come work and do my job.”
Training camp and the preseason came and went without any issues surrounding Bennett, and he began the 2015 season by hauling in five passes for 55 yards with one touchdown in the team’s loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 1.
Bennett caught eight passes for 63 yards combined in Week 2 and Week 3 before finishing Week 4 against the Oakland Raiders with 11 catches for 83 yards with one touchdown. Following a six-catch performance in Week 6 against the Detroit Lions and an eight-catch performance against the San Diego Chargers in Week 9, Bennett caught just eight passes for 58 yards between Week 10 and Week 13.
On Thanksgiving night against Green Bay, Bennett did not play because of his rib injury, per ChicagoFootball.com’s Kevin Fishbain:
According to Pro Football Focus, Bennett played 61 of the team’s 80 offensive snaps against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 13, but he recorded his second-lowest overall grade of the year with a minus-4.2. He finished the game with just three catches for 43 yards and declined to speak to the media after the game, per Campbell.
On Monday, Fox was asked about Bennett’s status, per Dickerson:
A day later, the veteran tight end was placed on season-ending injured reserve, and the Chicago Tribune‘s Dan Wiederer reported Bennett had an issue in practice before the team’s contest against Green Bay.
“Multiple sources told the Tribune that Bennett had a temperamental outburst during practice leading up to the Packers game and had been growing increasingly moody as his role in the offense evolved,” Wiederer wrote on Tuesday.
Bennett and the Bears have seemingly been on different pages all year long, and his placement on injured reserve with four games remaining on the schedule may be an indication that the team is willing to move on from him after the season concludes.
Pace has had no problem with getting rid of players like wide receiver Brandon Marshall and defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff due to issues off or on the field since taking over as general manager in January, and Bennett could be the next player out the door if the young general manager feels Bennett’s attitude is detrimental to the team.
Bennett is arguably one of the most talented tight ends in the NFL, but he has struggled throughout his career to string together consistent performances in a full 16-game season. He is a good fit in Chicago’s offense because of his size (6’6″, 273 lbs) and ability to be a matchup nightmare anywhere on the field, but his inconsistent play and contract issues may force the Bears to move on without him in 2016.
Statistical information courtesy of NFL.com unless otherwise noted. Contract information courtesy of Spotrac.
Matt Eurich is a Chicago Bears featured columnist for Bleacher Report and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.
Read more Chicago Bears news on BleacherReport.com
