Chicago Bears: 3 moves to make before free agency
By Ryan Heckman
The Chicago Bears have already made a couple of key moves before free agency.
When NFL free agency officially begins on March 18, the Chicago Bears may look a little different. Already, the team has chosen to move on from a couple of respected veterans.
Just last Friday, the team announced it would cut ties with wide receiver Taylor Gabriel. After coming to the Bears from the Atlanta Falcons two years ago, Gabriel provided the offense with speed it hadn’t seen in quite some time.
In addition, the Bears terminated the contract of cornerback Prince Amukamara. The long-time New York Giants corner spent one year with the Jacksonville Jaguars prior to playing the last three seasons in Chicago.
These two roster moves will end up saving the Bears roughly $13.5 million against the cap. At this stage, the Bears are sitting around $27 million in cap space, give or take a smidge.
In order to fill the spots left by Gabriel and Amukamara, the Bears have a couple options. For Gabriel’s spot, they might look at a cheaper veteran like Travis Benjamin. Although, this year’s draft class is loaded with receivers and Ryan Pace could find some speed later on even.
As for Amukamara’s spot, the Bears very well may have their replacement already. Former CFL standout Tre Roberson chose time sign with the Bears over nine other teams, and could end up having the most significant CFL-to-NFL transition since Cameron Wake signed with the Miami Dolphins.
Before we get to free agency next month, or even look further down the road to the draft, the Bears have more moves to make. Pace could open up additional cap room if he so chooses, and has the potential to shore up one major roster issue before players are able to sign with new teams.
There are three major moves I would love to see from Pace over the next couple of weeks, and together, each one would end up leading this roster towards a Super Bowl run.