Chicago Bears bring back wide receiver Marc Mariani on a 1 year deal

The Chicago Bears continue their busy day of free agency by bringing back wide receiver Marc Mariani.

Last year was a career year for the soon to be 29 year old, with 22 receptions for 300 yards. Sporting Charts had Mariani down with 19 of his catches going for a first down. They also had him down for zero drops on the 2015 season.

He did have that one game where he struggled catching punts, but overall he has a solid season. He had 29 punt returns for 192 yards (6.6 average) and 16 kick returns for 418 yards (26.1 average). Mariani will give the Bears some depth at receiver and he'll compete at returner again.

Quarterback Jay Cutler seemed to gain trust in Mariani last year as the season wore on. He played in all 16 games with 5 starts and his 519 snaps at receiver was 2nd most at the position on the Bears.

The following is a snippet from the Bears press release about Mariani.

...his 86.4 first down percentage was second-highest in the NFL among players with at least 20 receptions. Eleven of his 22 receptions last season came on third down with all 11 catches being converted into 1st downs. He was the only player in the NFL to convert all his third down catches into first downs with a minimum of 10 such receptions.

What are your thoughts on the Bears bringing back Mariani for the 2016 season?