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Chicago Bears Free Agency Rumors: The latest on Brian Hoyer, Eddie Royal and Alshon Jeffery

Chicago Bears v Indianapolis Colts Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Over the weekend the Chicago Bears re-signed quarterback Connor Shaw and the rumors of their interest in free agent quarterback mike Glennon started to fly through social media. Today another quarterback was linked with the Bears, as Jason La Canfora tweeted that they have “expressed to Brian Hoyer that they want him back.” La Canfora hasn’t had the best batting average of late when breaking news on the Bears, but this one makes sense.

Bears’ head coach John Fox seemed ready to play out the 2016 season with the 31 year old Hoyer as his #1 QB before he broke his arm. The Bears struggled in the red zone with Hoyer at QB, but he was smart with the football in managing the game. Hoyer won’t come near the same type of contract as the 27 year old Glennon, but he is due for a raise after playing for $2 million last season.

Minnesota Vikings v Chicago Bears Photo by Elsa/Getty Images

Over the weekend it was reported by Ian Rapoport, that the Bears had a positive meeting with Alshon Jeffery’s agent and that, “both sides are more than open to a reunion.” Chicago passed on giving wide out Jeffery the franchise tag for the second consecutive season, and I’m guessing that Jeffery will still want to see what other teams may offer before coming back to the Bears.

With this receiver draft class being fairly strong and deep, maybe teams are hesitant before paying a guy like Jeffery huge money. There will be a market for his services, it just may not be in the $14 million per year range.

The latest team rumored to have interest in him is the San Francisco 49ers, which is also a rumored destination for Brian Hoyer.


The Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs reports that the Bears are likely to release wide out Eddie Royal if he can pass his physical. He had surgery on his left foot in December and once he’s medically cleared, the Bears will waive him and save $5 million in cap space.

Biggs has conflicting sources in regards to Bears’ outside linebacker Lamarr Houston, with one source saying, “the team has approached Houston about taking a pay cut,” but another source “flatly” denying that.

Houston is also coming off an injury, so he’ll need to pass a physical as well. Another potential cap-casualty-Bear coming off a surgery is quarterback Jay Cutler.

What are your thoughts on these latest free agency rumors?