Smith, Bowen agree to deals elsewhere

The losses keep mounting for the Bears, although, in fairness, we’re not sure how serious they were about adding two players who were signed by other teams Thursday.

New York Jets receiver Brad Smith agreed to terms on a four-year, $15 million contract with the Buffalo Bills, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. The former Missouri quarterback was a jack of all trades who ran the ball, was a receiver, an occasional Wildcat quarterback and also returned kicks. He could’ve developed into an interesting ingredient in offensive coordinator Mike Martz’s offense while also filling in for Danieal Manning on kick returns. Manning, a free agent safety, is drawing interest from several others teams and is not expected to re-sign with the Bears.

The Bears had also expressed interested in Cowboys free-agent defensive tackle Stephen Bowen, who agreed to a whopper of a contract with the Washington Redskins for someone who has only started 11 of 32 games the past two seasons. ESPN reported that the Redskins gave Bowen a five-year deal worth $27.5 million with $12.5 million guaranteed.