Bears Sign Kicker, Tight End to 1-Year Deals: Report

The Chicago Bears have signed one tight end while releasing another, and they have also given kicker Eddy Pineiro some competition. The team announced the signings of tight end J.P. Holtz, kicker Ramiz Ahmed, guard Rashaad Coward and offensive lineman Jason Spriggs via their Twitter account Friday.

The team also announced it is parting with former starting tight end Trey Burton after just two seasons.

Spriggs, a former second-overall pick by the Packers, never quite caught on in Green Bay. He started two games at right guard and seven games at right tackle in his first four years with the Pack, but he missed the 2019 season due to a trapezius injury, and he also missed time in 2017 due to a knee injury. He played in 13 games throughout the 2018 season, along with 16 his rookie year in 2016, but he never became the successor to Bulaga they hoped he would. He’ll now have a second shot with the Bears.

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Bears Sign Kicker Ramiz Ahmed to Compete With Eddy Pineiro

Ahmed will be competing against Eddy Pineiro for the Bears’ kicker spot. Ahmed played college football at Nevada from 2017-2018. He didn’t play at all in 2017, but in 2018, he went 40-45 on his extra point attempts, and he hit 15 of 20 field goals. He made the team as a walk on tryout in 2017.

In 16 games last year, Pineiro made 23 of 28 field goals, and he hit 27 of 29 extra points. Bears GM Ryan Pace mentioned wanting to increase competition at every position, and it’s looking more and more like he means it.

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Tight End J.P. Holtz Signs 1-Year Contract With the Bears

In the post announcing former starting tight end Trey Burton’s release, the team also announced it had signed tight end J.P. Holtz to a one-year deal. Holtz appeared in 14 games with the Bears last year, starting seven. He had seven catches on eight targets for 91 yards and no scores.

At present, Jimmy Graham, Holtz, Adam Shaheen, Ben Braunecker, Demetrius Harris, Dax Raymond, Dorian Clark, Jesper Horsted and Eric Saubert make up the Bears’ tight ends room, which will clearly be one of the more competitive positions moving forward.

The Bears may still also take a tight end in the upcoming NFL Draft, so they may not be done trying to get better at a position that plagued them all last season.

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OL Rashaad Coward Also Returns

Right guard just got a bit more stacked with the addition of Coward, who started 10 games for the Bears last year after Kyle Long fell to injury. The Bears signed Coward as an undrafted free agent in 2017, and he actually played defense at the time. After head coach Matt Nagy’s arrival in 2018, the team converted Coward to guard, where he showed some real promise after being thrown into the fray last season.

One of the more interesting developments to watch will be how Bears’ new offensive line coach Juan Castillo works with and develops Spriggs, Coward, and a very young Bears’ offensive line.

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