Chicago Bears Free Agency: Grades, implications of initial signings

Now that the Chicago Bears have made a handful of initial free agency signings, what kind of impact will they have and how smart were the moves?

We are now just about 24 hours into the official free agency period for 2019, although we’ve known about several deals agreed upon for three days now. Isn’t the NFL offseason entertaining? The Chicago Bears may not have made the biggest headlines, but Ryan Pace is certainly up to something.

Sure, names like Antonio Brown, Odell Beckham Jr. and Le’Veon Bell have switched uniforms this offseason. But, the Bears made their enormous splash last year. Pace doesn’t need to go all-in on one player in 2019. He’s been working on a more sneaky, tedious offseason this year — and that’s perfectly fine.

Just a few days ago, we all wondered what Pace would be doing with the two most notable free agents in Chicago. So far, we know the fate of safety Adrian Amos. He did indeed sign with the Bears’ bitter rival, heading over to the Green Bay Packers.

As for cornerback Bryce Callahan, the Bears are moving on from him as well. His market has been pretty quiet thus far, but Chicago is no longer home. We know that much. Who is Callahan’s replacement? I’ll get to that in just a bit — it’s kind of a juicy topic.

So, just what has Ryan Pace been up to in the last 72 hours? The Bears have actually made a handful of signings. If you’re curious on how they should be perceived, let’s take a deeper look at these moves individually, starting with the first non-in-house deal agreed upon earlier in the week.