USA Today
Bears Tender Two Exclusive Rights Players
Bears second-year defensive back Josh Blackwell and defensive lineman Andrew Brown have been tendered their one year exclusive rights free agent offers.
Blackwell was a pleasant surprise last year as a waiver wire pickup after the final roster cuts were made by the Philadelphia Eagles. An undrafted free agent, Blackwell made a team-high 11 Bears special teams tackles and also got in occasionally on defense toward the end of the season, making one start. He wound up playing 133 defensive snaps and making 12 tackles. Blackwell made a forced fumble and recovery.
Brown, a 6-foot-3, 290-pound end/tackle, was signed off the Arizona Cardinals practice squad Nov. 30 and played in five Bears games, making one tackle. He played in 18 games over 2019-20 with Cincinnati, three with Houston in 2020, two for the L.A. Chargers in 2021 and then last year in Chicago.
Originally a fifth-round draft pick in 2018 from Virginia, Brown has one NFL start, that was with the Bengals. He has made 19 NFL tackles and two sacks.
An exclusive rights free agent is a player with two accrued NFL seasons or less. They're only allowed to negotiate and sign with their original team. An accrued season is six regular-season games.
Besides the exclusive rights free agents, the Bears have three restricted free agents who must be tendered offers if they're to be protected from unrestricted free agency. Those are center Sam Mustipher, linebacker Javin White and cornerback Breon Borders.
Teams have until the start of the new league year at 3 p.m. on March 15 to tender offers to their restricted free agents.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
