For much of the 2010 offseason, there was talk that the Bears would trade tight end Greg Olsen. It didn’t happen then, but it might happen now.
Olsen’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, sent an e-mail at 7:56 p.m. Wednesday to general managers and personnel people on all 32 teams saying Olsen would be available.
“The Bears have granted me permission to seek a trade for Greg Olsen,” Rosenhaus wrote, as first reported by Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. “Please let me know if interested. Sounds like the Bears will be very reasonable on the compensation in return for Greg.”
However, 11 minutes later, Rosenhaus sent another e-mail to the same recipients, saying, “Please disregard my previous email regarding Greg Olsen.”
Rosenhaus may have sent the second e-mail at the Bears’ request, but that doesn’t mean Olsen isn’t on the trading block. It seems awfully hard to believe that Rosenhaus would send an e-mail like the first one if there hadn’t been talks about working out an Olsen trade.
Although Olsen played in all 16 games and started 13 last season, his production declined in his first year in the Mike Martz offense, which doesn’t emphasize passing to tight ends. Olsen finished the regular season with 41 catches for 404 yards and five touchdowns.