By Patrick Finley@patrickfinley The Bears added special teams depth Wednesday, signing inside linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis to a one-year deal.
The 6-foot, 230-pounder will join his fourth team in as many years. He signed a two-year, $5.25 million contract with the Jets last offseason, but the team declined his second-year option in favor of keeping $2 million in cap space.
Bears coach Matt Nagy is familiar with the 27-year-old Boston College alum, having coached him in 2017 with the Chiefs. It was Pierre-Louis’ best season — he had a career-high 35 tackles, including six in the Chiefs’ playoff loss to the Titans.
The 27-year-old played 182 special teams snaps for the Jets last season, and could carve out a similar role if he makes the Bears. He had seven tackles and one sack in nine games before the Jets put him on injured reserve with a shoulder problem on the eve of the season finale.
The NFL suspended him for the first game of the 2018 season after he was charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession as a member of the Chiefs. He reached a plea deal in March 2018.
Pierre-Louis played in 34 games over three years for the Seahawks, who drafted him in the fourth round in 2014. He started his first and only career game in 2015.
You have to consider the source on this (after all it is PFF). But if their methodology is anywhere close to reality it could be huge.
I am excited to see how his game translates to the NFL. Watching video of him in college it looks like he did not have great blocking (his blocking with the Bears should be better). But the defensive players at the NFL level will be a lot better (and certainly quicker/faster/stronger/better tacklers) than what he faced in college, and I wonder how he'll do with his average speed against them. Some of the plays he makes in those videos, I suspect he won't get away with in the NFL. But, he does seem to have a nose for finding creases in the DL and hits those quick and hard... so for me it is hard to envision how all of this will work for him in the NFL. He could be really good, or he could end up being "just okay" for us. Hard to tell before we actually see him this year in regular season games.