Olamide Zaccheaus feels it’s ‘great time’ to be a Chicago Bear

A year ago, Olamide Zaccheaus signed with the Washington Commanders and joined a team that had a new offensive coaching staff and featured a young quarterback. That group connected quickly and made an unexpected run to the NFC Championship game.

Zaccheaus will try to replicate that success with the Bears this season after officially signing a one-year contract with the team Monday.

“The culture here, the history, the tradition, I feel like it’s just a great time to be in Chicago,” Zaccheaus told reporters virtually Monday. “I just want to do my part and try to win some games and make a run for the whole thing.”

Zaccheaus has found his niche in the NFL as a slot wide receiver after the Atlanta Falcons signed him as an undrafted rookie out of Virginia in 2019. Since then, he’s played in 89 games for the Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles and Commanders and finished with at least 400 receiving yards in a season three times.

Zaccheaus became a safety net in the slot for then-rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels last season when he joined the Commanders. While Daniels primarily focused on Terry McLaurin and Zach Ertz with his targets, Daniels found Zaccheaus when they weren’t open.

The targets added up and he finished third on the team with 506 receiving yards and three touchdowns, both at or near career-highs.

Zaccheaus finished with the third-most targets on the team by shifting inside and out. He also created plenty of lanes with his run-blocking ability.

“I’ve always been proud of myself on being able to move around on the inside and outside,” Zaccheaus said. “I think primarily I’ll be more in the slot, but just having the ability to move outside and move around in offense is something I pride myself on doing.”

He will likely provide that same safety net for Bears quarterback Caleb Williams this upcoming season. Keenan Allen served in that role for much of last season when things broke down for Williams in the pocket or his first read wasn’t there. Allen finished the year second on the Bears with 744 receiving yards and seven touchdowns.

Zaccheaus’ signing likely signals the Bears will move on from Allen, who is a free agent after the team traded for the former Pro Bowler last offseason.

Signing with the Bears presented Zaccheaus with plenty of reasons to succeed like he did in Washington. Zaccheaus was excited to be a part of new Bears coach Ben Johnson’s offense after watching its creativity from afar. He also liked the opportunity to be in the same position room as DJ Moore and Rome Odunze, feeling they could push each other to succeed.

But Zaccheaus got a first glimpse of how special Daniels could be as a quarterback during organized team activities last offseason. He’s hoping to see that again with Williams in the coming months.

“He has all the talent that you need to be a top-tier quarterback in the league,” Zaccheaus said. “So a lot of it’s just going to be the mental aspect of it, kind of just slowing the game down.”

Zaccheaus will try to impart whatever knowledge he gained from last season’s memorable playoff run to Williams and the Bears in the coming months. He also qualified for the playoffs with the Eagles in 2023.

“The culture here, the history, the tradition, I feel like it’s just a great time to be in Chicago. I just want to do my part and try to win some games and make a run for the whole thing.”

—  Olamide Zaccheaus, Chicago Bears wide receiver

But Zaccheaus emphasized the importance of a connection throughout the building for helping things click so quickly last year. Whether it was a player-media team connection, player-to-chef or player-to-trainer, Zaccheaus felt it all played a role in last year’s success.

“The biggest thing is just the connection,” Zaccheaus said. “That was one thing that we prided ourselves on doing, just being able to connect as quickly as possible. And that’s how you really take off. … We’ll see where that takes us, but that puts you in the best position to be able to have success.”

Bears re-sign long snapper Scott Daly

The Bears announced Monday that they re-signed long snapper Scott Daly to a one-year deal.

Daly, a Downers Grove South and Notre Dame alumnus, played all 17 games for the Bears this past season in his first year with the team. The Bears signed Daly after last season’s training camp ended. He spent the previous three seasons with the Detroit Lions.

Daly was the primary long snapper for punts, field goals and extra-point attempts with the Bears. He made five special team tackles.