Bears agree to deal with McCoy

Six days after their second-round wide receiver Alshon Jeffery became the first draft pick to agree to terms, the Bears reached agreement Tuesday with seventh-round kick returner/cornerback Greg McCoy on a four-year deal.

Over his career at TCU, the 5-foot-10, 178-pound McCoy returned 52 kickoffs for 1,505 yards, 3 touchdowns and a 28.9-yard average. He also started all 26 of the Horned Frogs’ games over the past two seasons at cornerback and had 4 interceptions and 62 tackles.

The 220th overall pick was named a CBSSports.com and Yahoo! Sports first-team all-American at kick returner and the Mountain West special teams player of the year as a senior.

With Johnny Knox’s health still in question, McCoy will compete for the backup kickoff returner behind Devin Hester, although the Bears have signed veteran unrestricted free agents Devin Thomas and Eric Weems, both of whom have been productive return specialists. McCoy will also contend for a backup cornerback position and is expected to contribute on special teams in coverage. The Bears have also added unrestricted free agent cornerbacks Kelvin Hayden and Jonathan Wilhite in the off-season and re-signed Tim Jennings, who started 15 games last season across from Pro Bowl pick Charles Tillman.

“(McCoy) is going to have every opportunity to compete for that fifth or sixth corner depending on how many we keep,” general manager Phil Emery said following the draft. “There’s going to be an awfully good competitive mix since we brought in Jonathan and Kelvin to find out who makes that team.”

The Bears, who host a rookie minicamp this weekend, are hoping to have first-round defensive end Shea McClellin, third-round safety Brandon Hardin, fourth-round tight end Evan Rodriguez and sixth-round cornerback Isaiah Frey all signed by early next week.