The Bears are talking to other teams about trading mercurial wide receiver Anthony Miller, who is “likely to be dealt,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Tuesday.
Miller, infamously, was ejected from the Bears’ playoff game in January for punching Saints cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson, the same player who goaded Bears receiver Javon Wims into an ejection earlier in the season.
Miller, and the Bears’ other receivers, had been warned not to engage with Gardner-Johnson.
Chairman George McCaskey seemed to doom Miller’s future later that month.
“I have a bigger problem with Anthony’s ejection [than Wims’] because they sat him down and they told him, ‘Listen, watch out for this player. He’s a punk. He’s going to try to get under your skin,’” he told WMVP-AM in January. “‘And with Darnell Mooney [hurt], we really need you to be in this game and help this team. And Anthony had the benefit of having seen Javon’s experience.
“I think they need to be evaluated separately. I’ve got a bigger problem with Anthony’s ejection than I do Javon’s.”
The Bears were profoundly disappointed with Miller’s ejection. A former second-round pick, Miller’s athleticism is off the charts — he can dominate against man coverage. But his inconsistency over three years has baffled the team. Miller had more than 72 yards receiving twice last year — and less than 30 yards 10 times.
In 2019, he had a career-high 52 catches and 656 receiving yards. Last year, he had 49 catches but only 485 yards.
The Bears need to get under the salary cap by 3 p.m. Wednesday. Miller isn’t expensive — he has a $1.7 million cap hit in the final season of his rookie deal.
In 2018, the Bears traded up to draft Miller No. 51 out of Memphis. They sent the Patriots their 2018 fourth-rounder and a 2019 second-rounder.
