Former Lions WR follows Ben Johnson to Chicago Bears

A Detroit Lions wide receiver who played four games in 2024 is following Ben Johnson to the Chicago Bears.

Former Detroit Lions wide receiver Maurice Alexander has signed a futures deal with the Chicago Bears , according to NFL’s transaction wire. Maurice will reunite with former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who became the Bears head coach last week. He’ll also reconnect with his position coach, as Antwaan Randle El also went to Chicago for a promotion to wide receivers coach/assistant head coach.

Alexander finished the season on the Lions practice squad, and the Lions opted not to sign him to a futures deal. That meant Alexander was a free agent free to sign with any team, even before free agency opens in March.

Alexander, 28, has been on and off the Lions’ roster since 2022. This past year, he made three game appearances, serving as the team’s kick and punt returner when Kalif Raymond spent over a month on injured reserve with a foot injury. Alexander got a total of four punt returns and turned it into 42 yards and a fumble (that was not lost).

Nicknamed “Hard Time,” Alexander may not have gotten many opportunities on the field in his three seasons (seven game appearances), but he had earned a reputation as a hard worker and good teammate. He was one of the many players who Teddy Bridgewater worked out with in and out of the Lions’ training facility.

“He’s been back there just listening. After practice, catching jugs. Walk through, catching jugs, just listening,” Raymond said of Alexander in 2022. “And then as I’m working, he’s working. And a lot people don’t know his story. This dude’s working another job, got a call from the USFL, balls out for the USFL, becomes a Detroit Lion and then finally takes a punt back in the NFL. There’s a lot of work that went in between that moment—the moment had in that game, and a lot of work that went in between that nobody saw. And that dude works his tail off.”

You can see the list of other Lions free agents right here .