Chicago Bears Free Agency: Overlooked defensive players still available

 2. LB Jamie Collins

A veteran that may not be the flashiest guy on the field, when given an opportunity to showcase his talents,  Jamie Collins makes the most of it. After having just been cut by the Browns, Collins is looking for a new home.

Primarily throughout his career, he’s played inside linebacker, which is a position the Bears currently do not have a glaring need at but could still look to add one more player to create extra competition.

In 2018, Collins had 16 starts, 4.0 sacks, 104 tackles, and 13 tackles for loss. As he approaches the age of 30, he’s shown no signs of slowing down. While his release from Cleveland was merely due to financial reasons, Collins is a veteran who brings experience to the defense.

As each day passes, Collins price begins to drop. At this point in free agency, it seems as if teams will be lining up to see what his price his. While the Bears have the cap space to sign him to a cheap deal, why would Ryan Pace and co. want a veteran like Collins?

Currently, the Bears are going into 2019 with Roquan Smith and Danny Trevathan listed as the primary starters. However, behind them is 2018 fourth-round pick Joel Iyiegbuniwe along with 2016 fourth-rounder Nick Kwiatkoski. This is where things get interesting.

Iyiegbuniwe was nothing more than a special teams player in 2018. His biggest asset is speed, however, he’s far from being the complete package at linebacker. Kwiatkoski, on the other hand, has a nose for the football, has a high motor, and has started multiple times for the Bears. Unfortunately, he lacks the speed needed to be an ideal sideline-to-sideline linebacker in today’s NFL.

If the Bears do decide to bring in Collins, it’d likely be a cheap one-year deal as Collins will serve as an upgrade from both Kwiatkoski and Iyiegbuniwe.