Brad Biggs at the Chicago Tribune answers your questions:
“Kendall Wright was the Bears’ leading receiver in 2017. He was often double-teamed due to the lack of other credible Wide Receiver threats. Given that he had a relatively inexpensive contract and had synergy with Mitch Trubisky, why has he not been re-signed as a depth or insurance for Kevin White? Is there a detail or back story that I’m missing as his salary was a rounding error compared to the new contracts? — David D., Parts Unknown
“Wright was productive for the Bears in the final month of the season but let’s not overstate the value he brought to what was a really challenged offensive unit. I’d disagree with your assessment that he was often double-teamed. Wright is an average slot receiver at this point and the Bears have candidates that they believe will be more productive in the new scheme — Taylor Gabriel and Trey Burton. The Chiefs brought Wright in for a visit last week and it will be interesting to see if he generates a little more interest from the market. The Bears should be credited with some nice moves to overhaul and upgrade the position.”
Wright signed with the Vikings after this was written.
Like Biggs, I was curious to see what the interest was going to be for Wright around the league. Wright had success under former Bears offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains with the Titans in
- After that, he had more trouble. His last offensive
coordinator there, Terry Robiskie, was particularly blunt about Wright’s tendency to “freelance”.
“We’ve got 11 guys that are going to be on the field,” Robiskie said. “We’ve got 11 guys that we say, ‘This is your job and here is your responsibility,’ and I think Kendall is like everybody else — realizing those other 10 guys are counting on Kendall to be where he’s supposed to be and do what he’s supposed to do.”
Perhaps Wright found a home in Minnesota where they will let him do what Loggains apparently allowed him to do. But evidently, like Robiskie, new Bears head coach Matt Nagy is of a different sort.