5 former high draft pick free agents the Chicago Bears can sign

The Chicago Bears could sign free agent defensive lineman Solomon Thomas

Ah, yes. Bears fans will rarely escape a conversation without someone mentioning the infamous Mitch Trubisky draft day trade. Back in 2017, the Bears traded up just one spot with the San Francisco 49ers to select Trubisky. In the back of everyone’s minds, they knew the 49ers were going to draft Solomon Thomas either way.

That’s a tiring conversation for another day, though. As the story goes, Thomas came to the 49ers and underwhelmed as the no. 3 overall pick.

In four seasons with San Francisco, Thomas recorded just 6.0 sacks. To be fair, he only appeared in two games during his last season with the team before going on to sign with Las Vegas last season.

Now, in Vegas, Thomas put up a career year as a rotational pass rusher, tallying 3.5 sacks in 2021. It might not seem like much, but he also notched a career-high 12 quarterback hits last season — and again, that was as a rotational guy. He never started for the Raiders.

At 26 years old, and still plenty of football in front of him, Thomas could come to the Bears as a potential long-term piece. But, offering him a 1-year deal with incentives could get him to prove his worth.