The Bears made their Wednesday agreements to sign wide receivers Tajae Sharpe and Dante Pettis official Thursday while at the same time also making a corresponding reduction of their roster's receiver total.
Undrafted rookie receivers Henry Litwin and Cyrus Holder were waived after the two veterans were added to the roster.
Litwin is Slipper Rock's all-time receiving leader. Holder had been an All-Northeast Conference receiver for Duquesne.
Sharpe, who is 6-2, 194 pounds, played in 15 games last season for the Falcons with 25 receptions for 230 yards. He has never lived up to the promise of a college career at UMass in which he made 257 receptions over his final three seasons for 3,280 yards and 16 touchdowns. His best year remains his rookie season of 2016 when he had 41 receptions for Tennessee.
Like with Pettis, Sharpe has had a nose for the end zone. Eight of his 117 career NFL catches have been for touchdowns.
Also like with Pettis, Sharpe has been plagued by injuries. He had a 2017 foot injury that cost him a season and then suffered another foot injury at season's end in 2021.
Pettis finished last year on injured with the Giants after a shoulder injury and surgery. Earlier in his career had been plagued by knee issues twice.
Nine of his 52 career receptions have gone for touchdowns over the four seasons he has played.
Both receivers had been viewed as all-purpose types coming into the NFL but both have had their best production working from the slot.
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