Chicago Bears Free Agency 2015: Jerry Hughes

With a new scheme, the Chicago Bears will be looking for an outside pass rusher.

could be that guy. After struggling out of the gate with the Indianapolis Colts, he’s had tremendous success with the Buffalo Bills.

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With the Chicago Bears moving to a new scheme, they will need an outside pass rusher who could also drop back in coverage. Jared Allen is a great player and a probable Hall of Famer, but at his age it will be difficult for him to transition from playing a 4-3 defensive end to a 3-4 defensive end/outside linebacker.

Hughes measures in at 6-foot-2 and 253 pounds. He was a first round draft choice (31st overall) of the Indianapolis Colts in the 2010 draft.

After three mediocre seasons, the Colts traded Hughes to the Buffalo Bills.

At Buffalo, Hughes blossomed. He became one of only seven players to record ten or more sacks in each of the last two seasons. In 2013, despite only starting one game (though he played in all 16), he had ten sacks. In 2014, he started all 16 games and had the same amount sacks. He also totaled 79 quarterback hurries in the last two seasons.

Hughes has experience playing in both the 3-4 and 4-3 schemes, and with Vic Fangio using different looks, he would fit right in.

Therein lies the problem with Hughes — which player is he, the one who made no impact on the field, or the 20-sack man who was consistently in the backfield?

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Another question that arises is whether Hughes had success because Mario Williams attracted a lot of attention, or if he is an ascending pass rusher.

Even if Williams had a hand in Hughes’ success, Hughes still had to get the job done, and he did that.

Chicago Bears

The Bears are expected to pick up linebackers/defensive ends in the draft. I still do not feel they will have one they want in the first round (unless Dante Fowler, Jr. is there), and they just cannot pass up on a Haloti Ngata-type player in Danny Shelton.

Right now, I feel Hughes can be a good rotational player, similar to how Willie Young was used early on with the Bears in 2014. If Hughes turns out to play well, then he can play more.

With the trade of Kiko Alonso, look for the Bills to ramp up their negotiations with Hughes. They may be willing to overpay for him.

“We can afford to invest in that defensive line because we don’t have a large part of our salary cap eaten up by a marquee quarterback,” said Bills’ general manager Doug Whaley. “So that affords us the ability to be able to try to keep a Jerry Hughes and pay him what he’s worth. The way we have to play we’re going to have to have a strong defense and get after the quarterback and run the ball.”

The Bills have until Saturday before Hughes can begin to negotiate with any other team. He cannot sign any contract until Tuesday, however.

If the Bills are willing to overpay for Hughes, then that’s their choice. Of course, he may continue to grow with Williams on the other side. If the two sides cannot come up with an agreement, and Hughes doesn’t sign with anyone else until after the opening craziness, then the price may fall enough for the Bears to find themselves a diamond in the rough.

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