The Chicago Bears’ leading receiver from 2017 has taken a visit to a division rival.
ESPN’s Field Yates reports Kendall Wright has visited the Minnesota Vikings. This is the second known visit for Wright, who was hosted by the Kansas City Chiefs last week.
Wright was the most targeted Bears receiver in 2017, leading the team in catches (59) and receiving yards (614). He is one of the better free agent receivers still on the market and could be a valuable piece to an offense in need of a slot receiver who can operate over the middle of the field.
For what it’s worth, Wright did his best work against the Bears’ NFC North rivals. Wright caught 64.3 percent of the passes thrown in his direction and Bears quarterbacks posted a 91.2 rating when throwing to him in division games.
The Vikings have one of the league’s best slot receivers in Adam Thielen, but he could see an expanded role and more looks as an outside receiver under new offensive coordinator John DeFilippo. It doesn’t take too much of an imagination to envision defenses having to game-plan against Thielen and Stefon Diggs on the outside being susceptible to leaving the middle of the field open for a player with Wright’s skills.
It would be a mistake to discount Wright’s potential in a modern NFL offense because of his pedestrian numbers while performing in the Bears’ 2017 scheme.
Even though the Bears have explored other options at wide receiver and were expected to receive a visit from Dallas Cowboys free agent wideout Brice Butler at some point, there hasn’t been much public interest in bringing back a receiver who built something of a rapport with quarterback Mitch Trubisky during his rookie season.