Allen Robinson finally found a team willing to pay him — and a high-level quarterback to throw him the ball.
The Bears, meanwhile, added two players as they continue their search for receivers to take his place.
Robinson, who had spent the last two years looking for a long-term deal from the Bears that never came, signed a three-year deal with the defending Super Bowl champion Rams on Thursday. The receiver will get $30.7 million fully guaranteed and $46.5 million overall, a source said.
Only 28, he’ll get a chance to hit the market again in no fewer than three years. He’ll line up alongside Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, Van Jefferson and perhaps even Odell Beckham Jr. The Rams reportedly won’t let the Robinson signing keep them from pursuing Beckham, who tore his ACL in the Super Bowl.
Robinson will have Matthew Stafford, by far the best quarterback with whom he’s ever played, throwing him the ball. Robinson spent his first four years with the Jaguars and four more with the Bears, who gave him the franchise tag for a disappointing 2021 season. In the last two years alone, Robinson had four different Bears quarterbacks start at least six times: Justin Fields, Nick Foles, Mitch Trubisky and Andy Dalton.
After starting the new league year Wednesday with only two receivers on the roster who caught a pass last year — Darnell Mooney, with whom Fields has been training at Georgia Tech, and second-year wideout Dazz Newsome, who had two receptions — Fields will have new faces to target in 2022.
Thursday, the Bears agreed to add two receivers on one-year deals: the Chiefs’ Byron Pringle and the Packers’ Equanimeous St. Brown. Pringle caught 42 passes for 568 yards and five touchdowns during the regular season last year with the Chiefs, for whom new Ryan Poles worked before being named the Bears’ general manager in January. In the playoffs, he totaled 12 catches for 82 yards and three touchdowns — with two coming in the wild-card round against the Steelers.
The 6-1, 201-pound Pringle, a one-time undrafted free agent from Kansas State, will get $4 million and can make another $2 million in incentives. After playing 49 percent of the Chiefs’ offensive snaps, Pringle will see his playing time spike in Chicago.
St. Brown, a 6-foot-5 Notre Dame alum, has loud physical tools — he ran a 4.48 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine four years ago — but has struggled to put together consistent seasons as a pro. He had only nine catches for 98 yards last year, one year after catching seven passes for 117 yards. He had 21 receptions for 328 yards as a rookie in 2018 before spending 2019 on injured reserve with an ankle injury.
St. Brown played in both 26 percent of the Packers’ offensive snaps and 26 percent of their special teams downs last year.
While Pringle could be the Bears’ No. 2 or 3 receiver, St. Brown would likely slot in as a fourth or fifth receiver. Neither presence will prevent the Bears from signing more receivers — or drafting one next month. Robinson was the best receiver left on the free agent market; names remaining include JuJu Smith-Schuster, Julio Jones, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Will Fuller.
St. Brown is the second former Packers offensive player to join new Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, who was a Green Bay assistant for all but one season from 2014-21. Interior offensive lineman Lucas Patrick signed a two-year deal Wednesday.
The Bears’ pipeline from Green Bay flowed the other way Thursday, too. Punter Pat O’Donnell, the team’s longest-tenured player, agreed to a two-year deal to join the Packers. O’Donnell’s 46.2 yards per punt last year was the second-highest mark of his career.
O’Donnell, who was drafted in 2014, played for Bears two general managers and three coaches — not counting new bosses Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus.
Running back Damien Williams, who scored three touchdowns for the Bears last year, agreed to a one-year deal with the Falcons on Thursday, a source confirmed, while the former Bears offensive lineman Alex Bars signed with the Raiders.