Chicago Bears offseason outlook after the Khalil Mack trade

I would say for most Chicago Bears fans, the best word to describe the Khalil Mack trade is, shocking.

Khalil Mack getting traded was not on the top of majority of people’s minds heading into this offseason for the Bears. But the day has come and Khalil Mack is no longer a Chicago Bear.

So now, it’s time to look past it and take a guess on what Bears GM Ryan Poles has up his sleeve.

Clearly, after this deal, he has some tricks and surprises for all of Chicago.

Let’s look at the trade return itself. While a 2022 second round pick and a 2023 sixth round pick might not seem like the best return for one of the best pass-rushers in football; the biggest part of the trade was that the Chargers took on the entirety of Macks deal. This is most likely the reason as to why the Bears got only a 2nd and 6th.

Some might ask, why not just eat some of Macks money in order to get some better draft capital. Well, I think the main reason as to that is because the Bears are officially waiving the flag and letting the rest of the league know, we are rebuilding. With this deal the Bears do clear some cap space for this season (6 million dollars), but majority of the money comes off the books heading into the 2023 season. The Bears (as it stands right now) would have just about 121 million dollars to work with heading into the 2023 season. That is some serious cash that Ryan Poles would have to work with where he can essentially build, an entire new roster. Not to mention the Bears get there first round pick back in 2023 as well.

So what’s the goal for Poles and company going forward the rest of this off-season? Well I think the goal at hand is to build an offense around Justin Fields. The Bears are at a crossroads where they have their quarterback, but they are not ready to contend yet. This upcoming season is huge in the development of Justin Fields, and he’s going to need some pieces to get him to the place we all want him to be.

What are the Bears goals for this off-season and beyond?

Goal one of the offseason should be to be a major player in just about every wide receiver and offensive lineman that Poles feels can help improve and help Justin Fields and the offense. Whether that’s one of the big fish or veterans. I also think its key for the Bears to re-sign James Daniels. Daniels can help anchor this O-Line for a couple more years and really help the young guys that are going to come in.

I also feel that it is extremely key that Poles does not invest to much in the defense this off-season. All your chips are not in until 2023 for when the Bears competitive window begins to open. Wait til you have to pay Roquan Smith and have to rebuild the defense all in 2023.

The draft this off-season is also key to the Bears future success. Once again we are looking for wide receivers and offensive lineman. Anything to help our offense improve and especially help our young quarterback take leaps forward. With two picks in the second round now, you can get some pretty talented prospects in what feels like a very deep draft. If he falls, the best pick here would be Chris Olave, out of Ohio State university. Someone whom already has a formed connection with Fields (through their Ohio State days) and has shined throughout his college career.

So, the key word when you consider the Bears outlook for the rest of the off-season is, OFFENSE. Let’s help our young quarterback take leaps and bounds forward this upcoming season and build and offense that helps build real momentum into what looks like a competitive window in 2023. Free agency opens next week and it will be fun and interesting to see what players the Bears are connected to after this big time move. So, it’s time to buckle up, and trust in Poles.