Tight end Greg Olsen’s long run with the Carolina Panthers is coming to an end, but his former team has not yet reached out to explore a reunion.
Olsen, in a radio interview with Chicago’s ESPN 1000 radio station, said that the Chicago Bears have not reached out to him since it was announced that he would hit free agency.
“I’ll be honest: in my heart I was hoping they would have been one of the first calls,” he said in the interview. To my knowledge we have not heard from them. Whether or not they do or do not is hard to say.”
Olsen was traded by the Bears to the Panthers after the 2010 season, and he had several highly successful years with Carolina. Injuries have plagued him in the last three seasons, but he appeared in 14 games with the Panthers in 2019, catching 52 passes for 597 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Olsen will be 35 in early March, but has expressed interest in continuing his playing career.
The Bears’ lack of production at the tight end spot was a big contributor to their offensive struggles during the 2019 season. Trey Burton missed eight games for the Bears, as did Adam Shaheen. In fact, the Bears churned through six different tight ends during the 2019 season, with Burton leading the bunch with just 14 receptions for 84 yards and zero touchdowns.
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Bears tight ends contributed just a pair of scores during the season, with 46 total receptions among the six players.
