The Bears on Friday signed receiver/return specialist Dante Pettis to a one-year contract.
Pettis, 28, spent the 2022 season with the Bears, appearing in all 17 games with seven starts. He caught 19 passes for 245 yards and three touchdowns, rushed for 37 yards on two carries and averaged 9.1 yards on 18 punt returns.
Prior to joining the Bears, Pettis appeared in 33 NFL games with 12 starts for the 49ers (2018-20) and Giants (2020-21), catching 52 passes for 739 yards and nine touchdowns.
The 6-1, 195-pounder was selected by San Francisco in the second round of the 2018 draft out of Washington, where he set an NCAA record with nine career punt return touchdowns.
He played in 28 games with 12 starts for the 49ers over three seasons, recording 38 receptions for 576 yards and seven TDs. The California native was waived by San Francisco Nov. 3, 2020, and claimed by the Giants the next day. He appeared in two games in 2020 and three contests in 2021 for New York, all as a reserve, catching 14 passes for 163 yards and two touchdowns.
His father, Gary Pettis, is in his 30th season as a Major League Baseball coach and 10th with the Houston Astros after an 11-year MLB playing career as an outfielder from 1982-92. Gary served as a Chicago White Sox coach from 1997-2002 and won a World Series championship rings with the Astros in 2017 and 2022.
