Damiere Byrd: Speed to Burn if Healthy

Bears add speed to slot receiver with Damiere Byrd, who once was reported to have run a 40-yard dash in 4.25 seconds.

The Bears didn't meet the need for speed in their slot receiver position during the draft.

Free agency has provided it.

Six-year NFL veteran Damiere Byrd signed a one-year deal with the Bears according to a report by NFL Network's Mike Garafolo.

Byrd is coming off his best season in the NFL, with 47 catches and 604 yards for the Patriots. He had one touchdown.

Byrd also has some return ability. He broke one for a 103-yard touchdown while he played for Carolina in 2017. While with the Panthers he returned 10 kicks for a 29.4-yard average, but has only made four returns since leaving the Panthers in 2019.

Byrd played for Arizona in 2019 and had his first real breakthrough as a receiver with 32 catches for 359 yards. He signed as an undrafted free agent after the 2015 draft and was on and off the Panthers' practice squad several times but made only 12 receptions for Carolina in his first three seasons. Byrd finished on injured reserve in 2017 and 2018, each time with a broken arm.

This is an extra receiver to compete with Anthony Miller and rookie Dazz Newsome, provided Miller is still with the team by then. Several offseason reports have suggested the Bears are trying to trade him.

Byrd's speed was never confirmed at the combine but he ran a reported 4.25-second 40 at South Carolina's pro day, according to the stop watches of scouts present that day and not an official timer.

Byrd ran track at South Carolina and for the 60-meter dash indoors he ran a 6.66 seconds.

Pace had brought in one speedy outside receiver in free agency already. The Bears signed former Olympian Marquise Goodwin, the former 49ers receiver who figures in as a "Z" receiver on the outside in a three-receiver or four-receiver formation.

Byrd can, and has, also played the outside receiver spot at times.

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