Column: Jakeem Grant’s addition should give the Chicago Bears a boost in the return game — but also indicates Tarik Cohen isn’t returning soon

If the Chicago Bears believed Tarik Cohen would be in the mix soon, it’s unlikely they would have flipped a future draft pick for help on special teams.

But that’s what the Bears did Tuesday, trading a 2023 sixth-round draft pick to the Miami Dolphins for wide receiver Jakeem Grant, a second-team All-Pro returner last season.

While the Bears have not offered an update on Cohen, who suffered a torn ACL in his right knee more than 12 months ago in a Week 3 road victory against the Atlanta Falcons, he remains on the physically unable to perform list. Based on observations, Cohen doesn’t look close to being cleared to return to practice. Based on PUP rules, he could return to practice as soon as Week 7, but that seems unlikely. When Cohen jogged out of the tunnel at Soldier Field on Sunday, he wasn’t moving with a normal gait. He still has a noticeable limp that he moved with during training camp.

Not only is trading a future draft pick an indicator Cohen could miss the majority if not all of the season, so is the fact the contract the Bears inherit means they will pay Grant $1.55 million this season before he’s an unrestricted free agent in March.

“Front office did a good job getting him,” special teams coordinator Chris Tabor said. “We’re excited to have him. I’ve played against him multiple times. He’s a guy that obviously has speed, first-step quickness, can make you miss. Can use all field zones, whether it’s the boundary, the middle or take them to the field. He kind of opens some things up in that area.”

Grant is considered one of the most dangerous returners in the league, and the Bears didn’t get what they were hoping for from Nsimba Webster after claiming him off waivers from the San Francisco 49ers in late August. Webster returned only four punts for 13 yards in the first four games and wasn’t aggressive enough trying to field kicks in Sunday’s victory over the Detroit Lions. He was waived to create space for Grant but the club re-signed him to the practice squad after releasing offensive tackle Alex Taylor.

While it’s possible Grant will take kickoff return duties from running back Khalil Herbert, the trade wasn’t made to Herbert more available on offense with David Montgomery sidelined for about the next month with a left knee injury.

Grant, 28, averaged 11.4 yards on punt returns last season and has five career touchdowns on special teams — three on punts and two on kickoffs. He had a 34-yard punt return against the Bears in the preseason opener this summer.

“It took me by surprise,” Grant said of the trade. “Coming off the year I had last year, I was thinking in no uncertainty I would have a bigger role and I was one of their key guys. That’s the business of the game. I’m not mad at them, not anything, I’m just ready to go.”

With the Bears struggling on offense, they need to be able to create a field-position edge with their return game, which arguably was the best in the league when the team had a healthy Cohen on punts and Cordarrelle Patterson, now with the Atlanta Falcons, on kickoffs.

Grant (5-foot-7, 171 pounds) is much smaller than Patterson (6-2, 227) and even smaller than Herbert (5-9, 212), but Tabor said Grant has a knack for physical running and can attack downhill. It seems what intrigues Tabor most is the variety of return schemes he can use with Grant because of his ability to reverse direction and press the edges of the opposition’s coverage team.

“Just studying him on tape through the years, you feel like you have some recollection of what he likes but it’s good to hear from the player and then how does that fit with us?” Tabor said. “If we’ve got to change some things to enhance his skill set, we can do that. That’s easy. In my opinion, it’s always about the player.”

Grant muffed a punt in the Dolphins’ loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday and fumbled deep in the red zone in the Week 2 loss to the Buffalo Bills, but the Bears are confident they will not have ball security issues with him. The Dolphins likely will turn to first-round draft pick Jaylen Waddle to handle return duties, at least on punts.

Grant, nicknamed “Mighty Mouse,” signed a four-year, $19.7 million extension with the Dolphins in 2019, but the team restructured the deal and voided the 2022 and 2023 seasons in the deal, so he is in the final year of his contract. He will be active on special teams Sunday but wants to become an option as a slot receiver or chess piece on offense, knowing that it’s going to require a lot of time in the playbook and on the practice field.

What does he know about his new city besides the weather will be different?

“Honestly, nothing besides Devin Hester,” Grant said. “He left an absolutely great mark here as a great returner so I have some big shoes to fill.”

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