Tag: Equanimeous St. Brown

Bears 2022 NFL draft preview: Where does Chicago stand at WR?

We’re breaking down each position ahead of the 2022 NFL draft. First up is WR, which still needs plenty of work following free agency.

The Chicago Bears are coming off a disappointing 2021 season that ushered in the start of a new era with general manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus. The hope is this Ryan-Matt duo will be able to guide the Bears  back to relevance.

With the NFL draft fast approaching, Poles still has plenty of work to do with the current roster, which features some glaring holes at positions of need. Positions like wide receiver, offensive line and defensive back remain huge concerns.

Here at Bears Wire, we’re going position by position to break down where Chicago stands entering the 2022 NFL draft. Next up is wide receiver, which still needs plenty of work following some depth additions in free agency.

Details of WR Equanimeous St. Brown’s contract with Bears

The Bears signed WR Equanimeous St. Brown. See the details of his contract here:

The Chicago Bears added some much-needed depth at wide receiver with the signing of Equanimeous St. Brown. St. Brown will reunite with former Green Bay Packers position coach and new Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.

A former sixth-round pick, St. Brown spent his entire four-year career with the Packers. He’s served mostly as a depth option at wide receiver, which is what he figures to be in Chicago.

Details of St. Brown’s contract have emerged, and it’s an affordable deal to add some depth at wide receiver. According to Pro Football Network’s Aaron Wilson, it’s a one-year deal worth $965,000 for St. Brown.

St. Brown was the first wide receiver the Bears signed in free agency, and he was joined shortly after by former Kansas City Chiefs wideout Byron Pringle. They join a wide receivers room featuring Darnell Mooney.

Still, wide receiver remains a big need for the Bears heading into the second wave of free agency and the NFL draft, where they’re expected to target some young playmakers for quarterback Justin Fields.

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Updated look at Bears receiver depth after Byron Pringle, Equanimeous St. Brown signings

With Byron Pringle and Equanimeous St. Brown joining the Bears, here’s a look at where Chicago’s wide receiver depth stands.

The Chicago Bears are expected to sign wide receivers Byron Pringle and Equanimeous St. Brown, which makes them the first receiver moves in free agency for general manager Ryan Poles.

Wide receiver is one of Chicago’s top needs this offseason as surrounding quarterback Justin Fields with weapons remains a top priority. The additions of Pringle and St. Brown is just the beginning, as the Bears are expected to add another playmaker in the NFL draft.

Pringle, a former undrafted free agent by the Chiefs, slowly climbed his way up the depth chart. He’s coming of his best season, where he had 42 catches for 568 yards and five touchdowns in 17 games with the Chiefs. Where things currently stand, Pringle looks to be the No. 2 wide receiver behind Darnell Mooney.

A former sixth-round pick, St. Brown has spent his entire four-year career with the Packers. He’s served mostly as a depth option at wide receiver, which is what he figures to be in Chicago. St. Brown worked with Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy in Green Bay, so he has a good understanding of Getsy’s scheme.

With the additions of Pringle and St. Brown, here’s a look at the Bears’ wide receiver depth:

Grading the Bears’ signing of WR Equanimeous St. Brown

Here’s our initial evaluation of the Bears’ signing of WR Equanimeous St. Brown.

After days of uncertainty of wondering who the Chicago Bears would sign at the wide receiver position, we finally have an answer. The team reportedly has agreed to a deal with former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown, first reported by Aaron Wilson.

St. Brown was drafted by the Packers in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft. He was one of three notable receivers the Packers ended up with following that draft, including Marquez Valdes-Scantling, drafted a round earlier, and Allen Lazard, who was signed as an undrafted free agent later in the season.

The receiver out of Notre Dame had a decent rookie campaign, totaling 328 yards on 21 receptions. Injuries stunted his development, however, and St. Brown fell down the depth chart in favor of players like Valdes-Scantling and Lazard. He had just 215 receiving yards over the last two seasons and now joins the Bears as a possible depth option in a wide-open receiving room.

Though there are still some unknowns about this deal, here’s how we’re grading the initial signing of St. Brown.

Packers losing WR Equanimeous St. Brown to Chicago Bears

Free agent WR Equanimeous St. Brown, a sixth-round pick of the Packers in 2018, is signing with the rival Bears.

Free agent wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown is following Luke Getsy and Lucas Patrick to Chicago.

According to Jeff Howe of The Athletic, St. Brown is signing a one-year deal with the Bears.

The Packers selected St. Brown in the sixth round of the 2018 draft. He caught 37 passes for 543 yards and one touchdown over 37 career games with the Packers.

In Chicago, St. Brown will find familiar faces. Getsy, the former Packers passing game coordinator, is now the Bears offensive coordinator. Patrick signed with the Bears earlier this week.

St. Brown, 25, gives Getsy and the Bears an athletic and versatile receiver who has extensive knowledge of the offense.

He’ll also get to play the Packers twice next season if he makes the 53-man roster.

St. Brown played 846 total offensive snaps and 172 snaps on special teams in Green Bay. He never carved out a significant role on offense but did end up playing out his entire four-year rookie contract.

In 2021, St. Brown caught nine passes for 98 yards and rushed three times for 14 yards.

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Twitter reacts to Bears signing WR Equanimeous St. Brown

The Bears finally made a move at wide receiver with the expected signing of Equanimeous St. Brown. Here’s how fans are reacting.

The Chicago Bears finally made a move at wide receiver. Only, it’s not the move many fans were hoping for as Chicago is expected to sign former Green Bay Packers wideout Equanimeous St. Brown to serve as depth.

A former sixth-round pick, St. Brown has spent his entire four-year career with the Packers. He’s served mostly as a depth option, which is what he figures to be in Chicago. St. Brown worked with Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy in Green Bay, so he has a good understanding of Getsy’s scheme.

There was certainly an interesting reaction to the move. While some were questioning the move, others understood that it’s simply a depth move for a Bears team that has just Darnell Mooney — and possibly Dazz Newsome — as reliable options at receiver right now.

Expect the Bears to make more moves at wide receiver this offseason — be it in free agency and the NFL draft — to surround quarterback Justin Fields with weapons.

Here’s how Twitter is reacting to the depth signing of St. Brown:

Bears to sign WR Equanimeous St. Brown

The Bears have made their first move at wide receiver this free agency: signing former Packer Equanimeous St. Brown.

The Chicago Bears have made their first move at wide receiver, as they’re expected to sign former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown, according to Aaron Wilson.

A former sixth-round pick, St. Brown has spent his entire four-year career with the Packers. He’s served mostly as a depth option at wide receiver, which is what he figures to be in Chicago. St. Brown worked with Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy in Green Bay, so he has a good understanding of Getsy’s scheme.

In four seasons with the Packers, St. Brown has 37 receptions for 543 yards with one touchdown. Last season, he caught nine passes for 98 yards in 13 games.

St. Brown becomes the second former Packer to reunite with Getsy in Chicago joining offensive lineman Lucas Patrick, who signed a two-year, $8 million deal earlier this week.

St. Brown isn’t necessarily the big-name receiver Bears fans were hoping to hear about, but that doesn’t mean that’s not coming. There are still some intriguing options out there, including JuJu Smith-Schuster, Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr.

Wide receiver remains a big need for the Bears heading into the second wave of free agency and the NFL draft, where they’re expected to target some young playmakers.

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10 under the radar 2022 free agent for the Eagles to targets

10 under the radar 2022 #NFL free agents for the #Eagles to target #FreeAgency #FlyEaglesFly

NFL free agency isn’t always about landing the big names and with a little over $24 million available, Howie Roseman could fill a lot of holes with some under-the-radar names.

Value is in the eyes of the beholder and with Philadelphia having needs at running back, cornerback, linebacker, and safety among others, there are several lesser-known players set to hit the open market that can help improve the culture already in place.

With the new league year quickly approaching, here are 10 under-the-radar free agents for the Eagles to target.

What Aaron Rodgers missed on the play that could have saved the Packers’ season

Aaron Rodgers had a chance to advance in the playoffs, but he missed an easy touchdown on his last throw against the 49ers.

It was a surprise to nobody that in the Packers’ 13-10 loss to the 49ers in the divisional round, Aaron Rodgers targeted receiver Davante Adams more than he targeted anybody else, and certainly more than any other receiver. When you have the NFL’s best receiver on your side, you don’t make it a secret. Adams was targeted 11 times, catching nine passes for 90 yards, but there were no touchdowns to be had — the only Packers touchdown in that loss came from a six-yard run from  A.J. Dillon on Green Bay’s first drive.

After that, it was crickets in the end zone for the NFL’s second-best passing offense (behind only the Buccaneers, per DVOA) throughout the regular season. As my Touchdown Wire colleague Mark Schofield detailed on Sunday morning, the 49ers and defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans did a brilliant job of limiting Adams’ options with creative brackets, allowing them to keep Adams in check even when they played single-high coverage — usually a cheat code for both Rodgers and Adams.

Rodgers’ response to this was odd. He didn’t avail himself of his other receivers, which he usually does when restricted by coverage concepts that make things more difficult for Adams. Allen Lazard had one catch on one target for six yards. Randall Cobb, Rodgers’ best buddy, had no catches on one target. Rodgers will probably bring this up in the offseason to augment his belief that Green Bay’s front office needs to get him better receivers behind Adams, but Rodgers was the one at fault more often than not when you analyze how this all broke down.

Rodgers had just 55 passing yards in the second half of that game, and it’s his final passing attempt of the contest that will haunt him. With 3:40 left in the game, and third-and-11 from his own 28-yard line, Rodgers had the touchdown that would have put the Packers up 17-10, and put Jimmy Garoppolo on the clock — but he simply didn’t see it. It was odd to see perhaps the most physically gifted thrower of the football in NFL history miss an easy score as he did here.

Both the broadcast angles and the All-22 told the same sad story.

The 49ers dropped into Cover-3, with safeties Jimmie Ward and Jaquiski Tartt blitzing, and Talanoa Hufanga as the deep safety cheating to Adams’ side. Generally speaking, this is why playing single-high against the Packers is a nightmare — even if you do bracket Adams, someone else is going to be very open.

In this case, both Equanimeous St. Brown (who had cornerback Emmanuel Moseley dead to rights from the seam to the numbers) and Lazard (who was wide open on the deep in route) would have created explosive plays had Rodgers thrown the ball anywhere near them, and in St. Brown’s case, that’s most likely an easy six.

“I’ve got to go back and look at the tape and I’ll be able to answer that question for you better,” head coach Matt LaFleur said after the game, when asked why there weren’t more targets for guys not named Davante Adams or running back Aaron Jones. “I think the majority of our pass concepts do run through Davante, and that’s been the case all season long. We obviously didn’t do a good enough job of having the right concepts called or whatever it is, but I got to go back and look at the tape.”

Rodgers knew where the responsibility should land.

“I didn’t have a great night tonight,” he said. “They did a good job of kind of getting me off the spot and a better job of taking away some of the quick game that we got going the last time we played them, and I just missed a couple reads. I probably should have taken a couple hole shot chances at certain times, and then obviously if I hit Allen [Lazard] on that deep-in on the last drive, that probably gets out to about midfield and we’re a couple first downs away from being in field goal range, so I’m definitely disappointed by some of those decisions that I had tonight. So, yeah, I definitely take my fair share of blame tonight.”

When Rodgers looks back and sees St. Brown past Moseley, that will be an even more bitter pill.

Opportunity exists for ascending Packers WR Equanimeous St. Brown

Packers WR Equanimeous St. Brown could be an important player moving forward with Randall Cobb (core injury) out.

An opportunity to play a bigger role in the Green Bay Packers passing game is now available for a wide receiver like Equanimeous St. Brown after Randall Cobb went down with a significant core muscle injury.

St. Brown, who was released at final cuts but returned on the practice squad, has slowly but surely carved out a legitimate role for himself on the active roster, both on special teams and at receiver. Over the last month, he’s made a handful of big plays on offense that have caught the eye of everyone in Green Bay, including quarterback Aaron Rodgers and receiver Aaron Rodgers.

With Cobb out, St. Brown could be the new No. 4 receiver and a player who gets more snaps in the slot or as a gadget play weapon. In fact, coach Matt LaFleur pointed to St. Brown as one player who will have to help replace Cobb’s snaps in the slot.

“It’s really everybody, and that can change on a weekly basis,” LaFleur said. “EQ has been playing really well as of late, not only offense but also on special teams.”

St. Brown caught five passes for 62 yards and ran once for 11 yards over the last four games. He converted a crucial fourth down with a catch against the Cardinals, had two explosive plays against the Vikings and also converted an important third down late against the Rams.

“It’s just the consistency, and the detail he’s starting to play with,” Adams said.

St. Brown, a sixth-round pick of the Packers in 2018, has gained the trust of the quarterback, arguably the most important factor for a young receiver playing with Rodgers.

“He’s a guy I trust and a guy who’s made some timely plays for us,” Rodgers said after the Packers’ win over the Rams.

The trust part is a big deal, especially for a player attempting to replace Cobb, who has been one of Rodgers’ most trusted targets over the years.

In each of the last two games, St. Brown played over 20 snaps on offense and at least 15 on special teams. He’s also now one of the go-to gunners on special teams, a role he’s embraced.

With his roster spot secure, St. Brown now has the opportunity to take the next step over the final five games of the regular season and grab ahold of a key role in the passing game with Rodgers. His size, speed and explosive play ability – when combined with the trust he’s earned with the quarterback and his emerging production in key spots – could be important factors as the Packers attempt to fit the puzzle pieces together at receiver with Cobb out of the picture.

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