Demetrius Harris signs one-year deal with Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears moved quickly to bring Demetrius Harris onto the roster with a one-year deal for the veteran tight end.

Well, free agency didn’t last long at all for Demetrius Harris this offseason. Shortly after he was released by the Cleveland Browns earlier this week, NFL reporter Ian Rapoport has word that the Chicago Bears have already reached an agreement with the veteran tight end on a one-year contract.

Harris, a longtime member of the Kansas City Chiefs, played for the Browns last season as a backup tight end who followed former Chiefs general manager John Dorsey to Cleveland. Harris lasted a single season despite signing a two-year deal with the team, and his re-entry into free agency brought up questions as to whether or not the Chiefs would bring him back.

Instead the Chicago Bears, who also have a familiar face in leadership in head coach Matt Nagy, swooped in to sign him to a one-year deal. Nagy was the former offensive coordinator in Kansas City after Doug Pederson left for Philadelphia and would be quite familiar with Harris’s ability to be a solid blocker and red zone target for the Bears offense.

Harris had 15 catches for 149 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns for the Browns last season, matching a career-high for scores. In his career, Harris has 72 catches for 754 yards and 9 touchdowns with a 53.7 percent catch rate.

With the Bears, Harris now will compete with Adam Shaheen and Trey Burton for reps at tight end while the team watches Bradley Sowell and J.P. Holtz hit free agency. It’s a bit of a surprise move given that former free agent tight end Greg Olsen even stated that he was hoping to hear from the Bears but did not earlier this week. Clearly the Bears had Harris in their sights.

Harris will turn 29 years old in July.