Finally a Proven Third Tight End for Bears

The Bears should have the tight end spot nailed down now after they took advantage of extra salary cap money caused by the departure of Anthony Miller.

They've signed former Steelers and Lions tight end Jesse James, according to the Tribune's Brad Biggs.

Miller wasn't a big cap savings for the Bears as he was due $1.21 million in the final year of his contract. After the Miller deal, the Bears had $5.8 million available under the cap according to Spotrac.com.

James was a vital part of the Pittsburgh Steelers offense in his second, third and fourth seasons in the NFL before he went to Detroit as a free agent in 2019 and was more or less lost in the shuffle.

James had 39, 43 and 30 receptions in 2016-2018 in Pittsburgh as a first or second tight end target but then with Detroit caught only 16 and 14 passes as T.J. Hockenson was the primary tight end target there.

With the Bears, James is coming into a situation where a third tight end is needed behind Jimmy Graham and Cole Kmet this season. They had signed former Denver tight end Jake Butt and it remains to see how much they can get from him after he's had three knee surgeries.

James has been in the NFL since 2015 and hasn't averaged many yards per catch, only going over 9.2 yards per reception in 2018 when he averaged 14.1. He has displayed very dependable hands with a catch-per-target percentage of 63.6 percent or higher in all but one year. When he averaged 14.1 yards per reception in 2018 he caught 76.9% of the passes thrown his way.

James caught a 9-yard TD pass against the Bears at Soldier Field last season in the Lions' 34-30 comeback victory.

Players like Butt, Jesper Horsted and Scooter Harrington could be moved down the pecking order with the addition of James, who had a salary of $3.8 million with $2.5 million of it guaranteed, and a prorated bonus of $1.4 million last year in Detroit. He had signed for four years and $22.9 million with the Lions.

The new Lions regime had cut James to clear out cap space.

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