Bears sign tight end, waive Northwestern's Doles

The Chicago Bears on Monday signed former Princeton All-American TE Jesper Horsted and waived Northwestern's Tommy Doles, who earned a contract following his tryout at the team's rookie minicamp last week.

Horsted (6-4, 229), who played wide receiver for the Tigers, went undrafted after leaving Princeton as the school's all-time leader with 196 catches and 28 receiving touchdowns. He was invited to the East-West Shrine game but not the combine and recorded 32" (vertical) and 118" (broad) jumps at Princeton's pro day prior to pulling his hamstring during his second 40-yard dash (4.78 on the first try), ending his afternoon early.

Horsted joins fellow rookie, UDFA Dax Raymond, who received a team-high $45,000 contract as a college free agent, as new challengers to incumbents Adam Shaheen and Ben Braunecker, like Horsted a former Ivy leaguer, behind starter Trey Burton.

Although Raymond has generated a lot of excitement in part of the Bears' talented UDFA class, he doesn't have the kind of receiving credentials as Horsted, an Ivy league Offensive Player of the Year finalist last season, when he ranked sixth in the FCS in TD catches (13) and finished 7th and 12th with 7.2 catches and 104.7 receiving yards per game, respectively.

Whether Horsted's skills translate from the FCS to the NFL, and how he might fit on the Bears roster will begin crystalizing in OTAs next week. What's already clear is that Chicago would like more production from staple position in Matt Nagy's offense, where only Burton was a regular weapon.

• The Bears also announced Monday that they signed the following draft picks: Riley Ridley (WR, 4th Round, Georgia), Kerrith Whyte, Jr. (RB, 7th Round, FAU) and Stephen Denmark (DB, 7th Round, Valdosta State).

• Arthur Arkush is the managing editor for Pro Football Weekly. For more on the NFL, visit profootballweekly.com and follow Arthur on Twitter @arthurarkush or @PFWeekly.