The Bears traded tight end Adam Shaheen to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a seventh-round draft pick in 2021 that could become a sixth-round pick.
Selected by the Bears in the second round of the 2017 Ashland University draft, Shaheen appeared in 27 games with 13 starts over three seasons, catching 26 passes for 249 yards and four touchdowns.
As a rookie in 2017, Shaheen had 12 catches for 127 yards and three touchdowns while playing in 13 games. But the 6-6, 257 pound was plagued with injury in each of the past two seasons.
Shaheen performed well at training camp in 2018 before suffering foot and ankle injuries in a preseason game in Denver that forced him to miss the first nine regular-season contests. He finally played in just six games, catching five passes for 48 yards and a touchdown.
Shaheen had nine catches for 74 yards in the first eight contests last season before being placed in the reserve injured with a foot injury.
Shaheen’s trade, which came three days after the launch of fifth-year pro Ben Braunecker, leaves the Bears with seven tight ends: veteran free agent acquisitions Jimmy Graham and Demetrius Harris; second-round rookie recruit Cole Kmet; returnees JP Holtz, Jesper Horsted and Eric Saubert; and undrafted rookie Darion Clark.
Of the seven, only Horsted was with the Bears before the start of last season. Two were claimed for exemptions during the season: Holtz of the Raiders on September 11 and Saubert of the Redskins on November 30. The other four, Graham, Harris, Kmet and Clark, were acquired during the offseason.
List movements: The Bears on Sunday also released linebacker Devante Bond and gave up safety Kentrell Brice and catcher Alex Wesley.
Bond signed with the Bears last December 9 and played in the last three games of the season, exclusively on special teams. He was selected by the Buccaneers in the sixth round of the 2016 draft outside of Oklahoma. After spending his rookie season on the injured reserve, Bond appeared in 29 games with six starts over three seasons with Tampa Bay, recording 26 tackles and one tackle for loss.
Brice signed with the Bears on January 8. He spent three seasons with the Packers from 2016-18, appearing in 36 games with 14 starts and recording 100 tackles, six pass breaks, one interception, one catch, one fumble recovery and one inning – by loss. Brice entered the NFL with Green Bay in 2016 as a non-recruited free agent for Louisiana Tech. He signed with the Buccaneers as a free agent last March, but Tampa Bay withdrew him as part of the final cuts.
Wesley joined the Bears’ practice team last December. He entered the NFL with the Giants last year as an undrafted free agent from Northern Colorado. But it was dropped as part of the final cuts.
