With March coming to an end in the coming days, it's the perfect time to look back at what the Chicago Bears have done in free agency over these last few weeks.
The Bears lost multiple free-agent safeties, which was a possibility, but they quickly signed Cam Lewis and Coby Bryant to multi-year deals. They also re-signed D’Marco Jackson, who they had to bring back with Tremaine Edmunds getting released.
Bears GM Ryan Poles made it a point to add depth at the defensive tackle spot, signing Neville Gallimore, James Lynch, and Kentavious Street. But Chicago still hasn’t signed any free agent defensive ends.
That is a problem, as the Bears were ranked 24th in sacks with 35 last year. Montez Sweat led Chicago with 10 sacks, which is great. However, the Bears only had one other defender with five or more sacks – Gervon Dexter Sr. (6). For this defense to take that next step, they need to be better at getting after the quarterback.
Bears Making Costly Error by Not Addressing Pass Rush in Free Agency
Chicago lost its top two ballhawks in the secondary in Nahshon Wright and Kevin Byard III, so they’ll need the pass rush to step up and generate pressure to force quarterbacks into costly mistakes.
Looking at what remains available on the free agent market, there are some solid pass rushers to be had, such as Joey Bosa, Haason Reddick, Jadeveon Clowney, Leonard Floyd, and Cam Jordan. But the Bears do not have much cap space to work with ($243,078 per Over The Cap), which complicates things for Poles.
In fact, one could argue that instead of signing Lynch or Street, the Bears could’ve signed a pass rusher to a veteran minimum deal. That’s what the Detroit Lions did. The Lions realized that they needed pass-rush help, especially after not re-signing Al-Quadin Muhammad.
Detroit gave D.J. Wonnum a one-year deal worth $3 million and Payton Turner a one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum. While neither signing is earth-shattering, it's better than what the Bears have done, which is nothing.
Let’s say $3 million was too expensive for Chicago. We can assume that, as former Bears defensive end Dominique Robinson was signed by Houston for $3 million.
That being said, Chicago could’ve taken a shot on Azeez Ojulari, who signed a one-year, $1.4 million deal with the Atlanta Falcons, or Josh Uche, who also signed a one-year deal for $1.4 million with the Miami Dolphins.
At this stage in free agency, the goal isn’t to be looking for home runs, but more so depth, which Chicago needs. The Bears have now boxed themselves in. Chicago can hope to land one of the remaining free agents, which will take some financial maneuvering, or they can look towards the draft.
The draft could be fruitful if the Bears can hit on the right guys, and they come along at a good pace. But they can’t put all their eggs into the draft. One way or another, Chicago has to sign at least one veteran free agent in the coming weeks, as it probably should have done already.