Chicago Bears gain value with Nicholas Morrow, Lucas Patrick signings

All day on Tuesday, Chicago Bears fans waited for Ryan Poles to make a move. In fact, it was a relatively quiet afternoon overall around the NFL.

Finally, later on Tuesday evening, the Bears made a couple of moves.

First, Poles and the Bears agreed to terms on a deal with former Las Vegas Raiders linebacker Nicholas Morrow (terms have yet to surface). Shortly thereafter, the Bears also signed former Green Bay Packers interior lineman Lucas Patrick to a 2-year, $8 million deal.

With both Morrow and Patrick, Poles not only showed patience, but also that he wanted to wait for value in these two signings.

Nicholas Morrow and Lucas Patrick will provide the Bears with exactly what Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus are looking for.

Looking at Morrow, he is a former undrafted free agent out of Greenville who worked his way onto the Radiers’ roster and stuck for the last four years. He eventually became an important piece to this defense, especially last year when he started 11 games before getting injured.

Morrow runs a 4.5 and fits extremely well in Eberflus’ plan for a fast defense. Next to Roquan Smith, who also ran a similar 40 time, Morrow will offer plenty of speed and also the ability to drop into coverage.

At just 26 years old, Morrow comes in entering the prime of his career and looks to be a fantastic value for the Bears. He’s good in run support, but again, he is willing and capable to drop into coverage.

In Patrick, the Bears get a 28-year-old lineman who can do it all. He has played both guard positions, along with center, at times. Patrick is more of the athletic profile in terms of an interior lineman, which is what the Bears will want in this new scheme.

Patrick has been graded well in both pass protection and run blocking over the last couple of years, and comes to the Bears as a no-doubt starter — but for a great price at just $4 million per year.

Poles hasn’t taken the sexy approach to free agency, but those “in the know” wouldn’t have expected him to. He’s lined everything up for 2023 and is working his way towards what could be a huge offseason next year.

For now, he’s going to add smart contracts to this team, and only players who fit exactly what he and Eberflus are looking for. Poles has proven he will not settle, and he will not overpay. Both of these players are a prime example of just that.