Ted Ginn won't be finishing his 2020 NFL season with the Chicago Bears. The team has struggled to find any semblance of consistent offense this season, and while a large part of that is attributable to waffling quarterback play between Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles, Ginn hasn't exactly done himself any favors by becoming an afterthought in the offensive scheme. To that point, the Bears have reportedly decided to release him one day after the 2020 NFL trade deadline, per Adam Schefter of ESPN, cutting short his stay in the Windy City.
Ginn signed a one-year, $1.88 million contract this offseason to join the Bears, a deal that included a $137,500 signing bonus and $887,500 in total guarantees. For that money, he provided head coach Matt Nagy a total of three catches for only 40 yards and zero touchdowns in six games played -- an average of just 6.7 yards per game.
He also didn't show any value as a returner, which would've been an outside hope at establishing value for the once speedy receiver, posting just 24 punt return yards on five returns, his longest being only a 10-yard scamper. Needless to say, the Bears had seen enough and cut ties accordingly.
Because Ginn's release comes after the trade deadline, he'll be subject to waivers, even as a vested veteran. That means any of the other 31 teams can put a claim on him and hope he falls to them, but doing so means they would also have to absorb the remainder of his 2020 salary. If unclaimed in 24 hours, he'll become an unrestricted free agent able to sign with any team he chooses. While Ginn has never been a superstar in the league, despite having been the ninth overall pick of the Miami Dolphins in 2007, he has demonstrated value to previous teams like the New Orleans Saints -- who signed him to a three-year, $11 million contract in 2017.
He played out the entirety of that deal, but the one in Chicago has come to an abrupt end.
