The Bears' history and tradition appealed to Olamide Zaccheaus. But what really convinced the veteran receiver to sign a one-year contract Monday was the franchise's promising future.
"I feel like it's a great time to be in Chicago," Zaccheaus told reporters during a Zoom call. "I just want to be able to do my part and try to win some games and make a run for the whole thing."
Zaccheaus, 27, joins the Bears after spending his first six NFL seasons with the Falcons (2019-22), Eagles (2023) and Commanders (2024). The 5-8, 193-pounder has played in 89 games with 30 starts and caught 149 passes for 1,998 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Last year with Washington he set a career high with 45 receptions for 506 yards and three TDs. He also averaged 10.5 yards on 17 punt returns while appearing in all 17 games for the fourth straight season.
Zaccheaus is especially eager to play for first-year Bears coach Ben Johnson, who coordinated a Lions offense that averaged an NFL-leading 28.2 points per game over the past three seasons.
"You see what his offenses have done in the past, just the creativity in the play calls and just how great the offenses have been and how productive they've been," Zaccheaus said. "That really excites me. And you also just watch film and tape of how hard they play for each other. That's something that's right up my alley. I'm just excited to get to work and build on that."
Zaccheaus supplements his ability with the ball in hands with a willingness to block that no doubt will endear him to Bears coaches and teammates.
"It takes everybody, takes all 11 to run the ball, and even in the pass game as well when somebody catches the ball and getting down the field to get a block," Zaccheaus said. "And it's going to be a staple of what you see here with Ben Johnson, trying to build this offense."
In joining veteran DJ Moore and second-year pro Rome Odunze to form what should be a formidable receiving trio, Zaccheaus predicts that they can be "as good as we want to be."
"It could be a thing where we all push each other to be better," he said. "I feel like there are things that we all do very well that we can help each other with. So I'm excited to get to work with them and everybody else in the room."
Check out new Bears wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus in action. (Photos via AP)
The assimilation process figures to be smoother for Zaccheaus because he played with two fellow free agent signees in center Drew Dalman and defensive tackle Grady Jarrett with the Falcons. Zaccheaus also teamed with running back D'Andre Swift both with the Eagles and in high school at St. Joseph's Prep in Philadelphia.
"It's going to help a lot," Zaccheaus said. "It's just having people that you're familiar with in a new environment, and kind of going through the same situation that you're going through always helps. Everybody here has been so helpful and so good to me so far in the building. There [are] going to be a lot of people that are going to make this transition easy for not only me, but everybody else as well."
Zaccheaus entered the NFL in 2019 with the Falcons as an undrafted free agent from Virginia. His background has helped him remain humble and keep striving to prove he can perform at the highest level.
"I feel like it will just follow me for however long I play," he said. "But it's just always cool to look back at that and understand that nobody really wanted you, in a sense, and to be able to overcome that and be in Year 7 as an 'undersized' receiver, it's a cool thing that I hang my hat on. But there's obviously more things I want to do and accomplish, and I'm going to keep on trying to do those things."
