Bears Sign Davis to Tender Offer

The Chicago Bears still have many question marks at the wideout position, but they did bring back a fan favorite just before the weekend. After not receiving much interest on the open market as a restricted free agent, Rashied Davis re-signed with the Midway Monsters for a one-year deal.

The Bears re-signed restricted free agent wide receiver Rashied Davis to a one-year tender offer Friday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Davis originally entered the NFL as a cornerback and kick returner after four years in the Arena Football League, but he eventually moved to wideout for the 2006 season. He immediately made an impact working out of the slot, catching 22 passes for 303 yards and saving some of his finer moments for crunch time. However, his numbers dropped dropped across the board this past year – 17 catches for 165 yards – as he lost playing time down the stretch to the incomparable Devin Hester.

To his credit, Davis stepped up his play on the coverage units toward the end of the season and finished fifth on the club with 11 tackles on special teams.

JC's Take: Davis did not receive much attention from other clubs as a restricted free agent, so the Bears were able to bring him back one of their hardest-working players for very little money.

While he was one of the team's most clutch performers during the run to Super Bowl XLI two seasons ago, Davis did not see very much time on offense in 2007 and was relegated to special-teams duty the last quarter of the season or so. Even though leading receivers Bernard Berrian and Muhsin Muhammad are no longer in the mix, Davis isn't expected to challenge for much of a role in the wideout rotation with the likes of Hester, Mark Bradley, Marty Booker, and Brandon Lloyd currently ahead of him on the depth chart. Since head coach Lovie Smith has talked about limiting Hester's role as a return man to some degree in order to get him on the field more often as a pass-catcher, Davis could be a candidate to step in on kickoffs.

While Davis may be limited in what he can do offensively, he's a team player and will earn his paycheck just like he always has.

John Crist is the Publisher of Bear Report and a member of the Professional Football Writers of America. To read him every day, visit BearReport.com and become a Chicago Bears insider.