Bears Have Little Reason to Budge in Negotiations with Alshon Jeffery
Published by Brad Gagnon on July 11, 2016
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
It’s beginning to look as though the only wide receiver slapped with the franchise tag this offseason will remain tagged for the entirety of the 2016 season. That’s because NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo reported that “there’s not a lot of confidence” the Chicago Bears and Alshon Jeffery can come to terms before next week’s deadline for franchise players to sign long-term contracts.
“I sense that both sides really don’t feel strongly about this one,” Garafolo added (via NFL.com’s Tyler Dragon). “That’s because Alshon Jeffery’s got a $14.6 million tag. The Bears wanted to come in a couple of million below that.”
Per the same report, Jeffery is in search of a deal that exceeds those signed earlier this offseason by receivers Doug Baldwin (four years, $46 million with $24.3 million guaranteed) and Keenan Allen (four years, $45 million with $20.7 million guaranteed).
But the reality is if that’s the case, it’s easy to understand why the Bears would have no incentive to lock up the 26-year-old with a long-term contract. Because under the tag, Jeffery will be guaranteed only $14.6 million, and that 2016 salary of $14.6 million would hardly exceed the salary they’d owe him if they paid him better than Baldwin or Allen (both of whom are slated to make between $11.2 and $11.5 million per year).
There is something to be said for loyalty and morale. Jeffery has two 1,000-yard seasons and a Pro Bowl under his belt. And the Bears know they need the talented yet disgruntled South Carolina product in order to succeed, especially with past key cogs Brandon Marshall, Matt Forte and Martellus Bennett now wearing other uniforms.
Save for quarterback Jay Cutler, there isn’t a player on the Chicago roster the Bears rely on as much as Jeffery. With him in the lineup last season, they averaged 23.4 points per game. Without him, they averaged 17.7.
So keep him happy and avoid the risk of losing him next year by signing him to a blockbuster deal as soon as possible, right? Loyalty and morale matter, but it’s still not that simple.
You can probably guess what the problem is. Jeffery simply wasn’t in the lineup often enough in 2015. He missed seven games and, per Pro Football Focus, took part in fewer than half of the team’s offensive snaps. Even when he did suit up, he was far from 100 percent, hampered by an array of injuries (calf, hamstring, groin, shoulder). It explains why he went over 100 yards just four times all year, and only once during the second half of the season.
And that wasn’t an aberration. Jeffery was also limited at times in 2014 by a nagging hamstring issue, and he missed a handful of games due to a knee injury as a rookie in 2012.
This is just the business of sports. We all know that Jeffery is as talented as Baldwin or Allen, neither of whom have made a Pro Bowl. He might even have the ability to one day earn a consistent $14 or $15 million per year, like A.J. Green, Julio Jones, Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas do right now. We know it, Jeffery knows it and even the Bears know it. Why else would they be willing to pay him a $14.6 million tender?
But the Bears also know that football’s shelf lives can resemble yogurt on a hot day. Even if they believe in Jeffery, they know that his long-term value could fluctuate greatly in 2016. Unless you’re getting a substantial short-term discount—and reports indicate that is not on the table—it would be difficult to justify sacrificing flexibility and $10-plus million in guaranteed money, all in order to make an injury-prone player a little happier this summer and fall.
Brad Gagnon has covered the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012.
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