As expected, the Bears weren’t able to keep defensive lineman Roy Robertson-Harris. He tweeted Monday that he is leaving for the Jaguars, and NFL Network reported that his deal is worth $24.4 million over three years.
Robertson-Harris was one of the team’s best player-development success stories after making the roster as an undrafted free agent out of UTEP in 2016. He spent his rookie year on the reserve/non-football illness list, then played 52 of a possible 56 games before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in 2020. He had 7½ sacks and 75 tackles. In 2019, he played more than half the Bears’ defensive snaps.
His new contract with the Jaguars, which can be made official Wednesday, is a seismic payday after totaling $5.6 million during his first five seasons.
Robertson-Harris was a restricted free agent a year ago, and the Bears valued him enough to put a second-round tender on him so they could secure him for the 2020 season at $3.3 million.
He was one of the team’s top free agents heading into this offseason. Aside from him, the Bears are likely to say goodbye to quarterback Mitch Trubisky and starting offensive lineman Germain Ifedi, in addition to having cut cornerback Buster Skrine and likely cutting right tackle Bobby Massie.
Some of the biggest question marks as the legal tampering period begins include starting safety Tashaun Gipson and multipurpose player Cordarrelle Patterson. They’ll also have to decide if they can afford to keep star defensive tackle Akiem Hicks ($12 million salary-cap hit) and cornerback Kyle Fuller ($20 million).
