Former Vikings first-round receiver coming back to the NFC North

Former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver and 2013 first-round draft pick Cordarrelle Patterson has reportedly agreed to a two-year deal with the Chicago Bears.

Back in 2013, the Minnesota Vikings took a chance on a raw wide receiver in Cordarrelle Patterson with the hopes that he would develop into an offensive star one day.

Patterson’s future to greatness appeared to be on the right track after he scored a total of nine touchdowns during his first season with the Vikings. However, Minnesota could never figure out how to properly use him in their offense over the next three years and he left as a free agent in 2017.

After spending the last two seasons in the AFC as a member of both the Oakland Raiders and the New England Patriots, Patterson is making his way back to the NFC North according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Tuesday.

Schefter is reporting that the former Vikings receiver has agreed to a two-year, $10 million contract with the Chicago Bears. Minnesota will now see Patterson on the opposite sideline twice per season over the next two years.

It’s an interesting addition for the Bears and perhaps Chicago head coach Matt Nagy could be the one to finally figure out the best way to utilize him on an NFL field.

With the Patriots last season, Patterson was actually used a bunch in the team’s offensive backfield. For New England’s Week 8 matchup against the Buffalo Bills last year, he was even listed as the team’s starting running back and he led the Patriots that day with 10 carries for 38 yards.

Is this something similar to what the Bears could have in mind for Patterson in 2019? Nagy was known to get pretty creative with his play-calling last season, so the addition of the former Vikings receiver could make their offense even trickier for opposing teams to figure out.

As for Minnesota, they certainly know what Patterson is capable of as a return man. So when the Vikings see him twice in 2019, they should probably just do themselves a favor and not give him any kickoffs that are even close to being returnable.