The Chicago Bears have reached a one-year deal with free-agent wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr., a source confirmed to ESPN on Thursday.
Ginn ranks 25th in NFL history with 15,685 all-purpose yards — including 5,702 receiving yards, nearly 10,000 kickoff and punt return yards and 42 total touchdowns.
His agreement with the Bears was first reported by NFL Network.
Ginn, 35, became expendable with the New Orleans Saints after they signed Emmanuel Sanders in free agency. But after 13 NFL seasons, Ginn said earlier this month that he had no intention of retiring, adding, “I’ve still got a few years left in me.”
Chicago had a clear need at receiver after releasing veteran Taylor Gabriel this offseason. He was fourth on the club in receptions last year, but he missed a large portion of the season due to multiple concussions. In 2018, Gabriel caught a career-high 67 passes for 688 yards.
Bears receivers Allen Robinson, Anthony Miller and Cordarrelle Patterson are locks to make the 53-man roster, but the bottom of the depth chart is wide open for 2020. Ginn will compete for the fourth or fifth receiver spots against Javon Wims, 2019 fourth-round pick Riley Ridley, 2020 fifth-round pick Darnell Mooney and veteran Trevor Davis, who signed on Wednesday.
Although his career got off to a slow start with the Miami Dolphins as the No. 9 overall pick in the 2007 draft, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound Ginn has maintained his reputation as one of the NFL’s fastest players throughout his career with the Dolphins, San Francisco 49ers, Carolina Panthers, Arizona Cardinals and Saints.
Before he played football at Ohio State, Ginn was a national champion in the 110-meter hurdles in high school and he was part of a 4×100-meter relay team his senior year that beat a team anchored by future Olympic champion Usain Bolt.
Ginn’s production has dropped off over the past two years, thanks in part to a 2018 knee injury that sidelined him for 11 games. Although he played all 16 games for the Saints in 2019, he caught just 30 passes for 421 yards and two touchdowns.
Before the injury, however, Ginn had the best three-year stretch of his career — after the age of 30 — with the Panthers in 2015 and 2016 and the Saints in 2017. He averaged 50 catches, 759 yards and six touchdowns over those three seasons while serving primarily as a deep threat.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Jeff Dickerson and Mike Triplett contributed to this report.