Despite their desperate need for reinforcements, it was still somewhat of a surprise to see the Bears jump so quickly on signing veteran tight end Jimmy Graham. Graham, 33, was one of the game's best tight ends during the prime of his career, but has since seen a decline in production after leaving the Seahawks in 2018.
On top of that, the two-year, $16 million contract given to Graham is, so far, the second-largest contract given to a tight end this offseason. Only Austin Hooper, who drew plenty of attention from the Bears also, got a larger deal (4/$42 million). It's a curious investment from Ryan Pace, given how slowly the tight end market has moved so far. Just today, free agent Eric Ebron got this deal – the market's third largest – from Pittsburgh:
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While Ebron is also coming off one of his worst seasons, the ex-Colts tight end is four years younger than Graham and only two years removed from a Pro Bowl appearance. Predictably, the Ebron news didn't sit too well with Bears Twitter: