Loyalty isn’t a bad thing in business. It can often be rewarded. That said, there are limits to it. A certain point where an employee is clearly taking advantage of it. A perfect example for the Chicago Bears is Adam Shaheen. Somehow the team has kept it in their heads that keeping the 25-year old around might still pay off. This despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary.
To say nothing of the other investments they’ve made at tight end just in the past couple of months.
Why is this guy still around? Common sense in the NFL is a player gets three years at most to prove he belongs. If he fails, then it’s time to go. Most 1st round picks barely get that courtesy. Somehow the Bears have handed it to a late 2nd round pick. One who has done nothing to earn it. Think about this.
Shaheen has played 27 regular season games in his career to this point. He’s caught 26 passes. This guy has more games played than actual receptions. Never mind the fact he’s missed 21 games with various injuries. To date he hasn’t posted an outing of 50 yards or more. Not exactly befitting a guy whose nickname was “Baby Gronk.”
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Adam Shaheen won’t even see reps this year so what’s the point?
Think about this. In a little extra twist of the knife, Shaheen has topped 40 yards in a game since his rookie year. So he’s actually gotten worse from where he started. The guy is basically just occupying a roster spot at this point. The Bears added three guys who are almost guaranteed to appear ahead of him on the depth chart in Jimmy Graham, Cole Kmet, and Demetrius Harris. That leaves one spot left and the odds of him winning it are beyond low.
He doesn’t have any value on special teams like Ben Braunecker. He also can’t block like J.P. Holtz either. So why is he still a Bear? The only explanation is some fleeting sense of hope by GM Ryan Pace that he can still turn it around. A better bout of health is all he needs. Except no it isn’t. Shaheen wasn’t even that good when he was healthy. There is no denying he’s a physical specimen, but the guy just doesn’t have the durability or mental fortitude to handle the NFL.
That is not a dig on Shaheen the person. By all accounts he’s a good kid who worked hard to get this far. Unfortunately, that’s not enough to succeed at this level. He should’ve been gone a long time ago.