4 Indianapolis Colts players the Chicago Bears should pursue this offseason
By Todd Welter
The Chicago Bears made a lot of headlines last week with all the trades they made. This week it is the Indianapolis Colts making news.
The Colts fired head coach Frank Reich and replaced him on an interim basis with former All-Pro center Jeff Saturday. Saturday has never coached above the high school level but owner Jim Irsay is never one to be conventional.
Maybe Bears head coach Matt Eberflus would have been named the interim coach had he still been the defensive coordinator in Indianapolis. Irsay was a fan of Eberflus during his tenure running the Colts’ defense.
Eberflus leaving Indianapolis is the least of Irsay’s worries. The Colts have been wandering the quarterback wilderness ever since Andrew Luck abruptly retired before the 2019 season started. The Colts had the good fortune of having Peyton Manning and then Luck guide their teams from under center.
Since Luck left, the Colts have had Jacoby Brissett, Carson Wentz, and Matt Ryan at quarterback. Wentz and Ryan showed their best football days are long gone.
The Colts are an absolute mess right now. They appear headed towards a rebuild.
Speaking of teams in a rebuild, the Chicago Bears are in the middle of one. While Justin Fields is showing he is ready to be a franchise quarterback, the Bears’ roster is bereft of talent–especially on the defensive side of the ball.
Chicago traded away Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn, thus depleting the team of its two best defenders. The Chicago Bears’ defense is sliding down the NFL rankings. They are now 20th in points allowed.
The Miami Dolphins had no trouble moving the ball up-and-down the field. The Dolphins had 379 yards through the air and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was hardly pressured by the Bears’ pass rush.
While Fields was setting records on Sunday, the Chicago Bears’ comeback attempt fell short because wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown dropped a fourth-down pass late in the game. Drops have been a problem at wide receiver with the group only having a 61% catch percentage.
The Chicago Bears will have over $100 million in salary cap space for the 2023 offseason to address their defensive and wide receiver problems. With the Colts in disarray and Matt Eberflus’ connections to the team, there are four players general manager Ryan Poles could target to bring to Chicago.