Bears Still Undermanned at Tight End

J.P. Holtz didn't catch many passes with the Bears but served a purpose.

The Bears' blocking tight end for the last three seasons will now take his skills to New Orleans after agreeing to terms with the Saints, according to a report by Nick Underhill of Neworleans.football reports.

Holtz was targeted only one time since his first season with the Bears in 2019. The acquired him after he'd been cut by Washington early in the season. He caught seven passes for 91 yards that year, including a career-long 30-yard screen pass.

Since then, it's just been blocking for him.

Holtz made eight starts in Chicago and played in 43 games in three seasons.

He was an undrafted player and a restricted free agent who was not tendered an offer sheet by the Bears.

Over the past two seasons Holtz has played a bigger role on special teams. He made nine tackles with the Bears. In 2020 he played on 47% of the special teams snaps and in 2021 53%.

At the same time, he was on the field for only 8% of offensive snaps each of those seasons. His biggest offensive contribution came in 2019 when the Bears went through one tight end after another due to injuries to Adam Shaheen, Trey Burton and Ben Braunecker.

The problem with this departure is the Bears still have only two tight ends on their roster, Cole Kmet and Jesper Horsted, as well as one fullback in Khari Blasingame.

The Saints had Holtz visit their facility on Tuesday and signed him.

There are currently 10 Bears free agents still unsigned who were not cut victims: Akiem Hicks, Jimmy Graham, Germain Ifedi, Tashaun Gipson, Jason Peters, Jesse James Marquise Goodwin, Christian Jones, Alec Ogletree and Ryan Nall.

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