Free agency started about 4 hours ago from the start of this post. Already a ton has happened. The Bears have made several moves, boosting their defense at both the line and behind it. The biggest splash was when they signed Lamarr Houston almost right away. That was followed by signing safety Ryan Mundy. Also signed was Jordan Senn, a special teams specialist from Carolina. The moves made on guys on the roster last season were also noteworthy. They're bringing back linebacker DJ Williams, a very good move, as Bostic just didn't quite look ready last season, although in a year or two he should start to shine. They also cut Julius Peppers in a huge cap room move. Now, with the basics out of the way it's time to take a bigger look at things.
Before moving on, I should note that when I wrote this, I had forgotten all about Jeremiah Ratliff (as had the Bears, as I was using their Web page to check my facts). Future posts on the Bears will include that.
There are two areas that I look at with the Bears when I look at an offseason. There are the immediate needs, which I feel should usually be handled through free agency or the first round of the draft. After that you have the future needs, or just areas of consideration. These can be positions like safety where you just don't have anyone worth their starting spot out there, they could be positions like center where you know you're going to have to have someone to replace the current starter before too long, or you have positions where you may have signed a band-aid player, like what I'll explain later is where safety is approaching now.
Anyway, my areas for need for the Bears going into free agency were at safety (twice over), cornerback, and defensive tackle. For the sake of argument, we'll go back to my last post as for where to go as far as before free agency, the main reason being that the signing of Nate Collins would make things very complicated if we don't go back to there. However, even that doesn't really mean it's not a position of need still. My positions of consideration were defensive end, middle linebacker, tight end (backup), running back (backup), and center.
Safety was just horrible for the Bears last season. Both starters were healthy all year, and both starters did horribly all year. Conte couldn't stop the run or the pass, outside of a few interceptions, at least one in garbage time, and at least one other one (maybe more) because of a missed assignment that he got lucky on. Defensive tackle, on the surface, was terrible last year, as the Bears gave up the most rushing yards in the NFL, but the Bears suffered an unrealistic number of injuries there. By that, I mean that they would have had to put an unrealistic number of defensive tackles on the roster to be able to cope with the number of injuries they had. They will have a healthy Nate Collins back, as well as Stephen Paea, who was forced to work with Corey Wootton as his partner at tackle for a large part of the season, Corey Wootton the defensive end. Before free agency it was just Paea though, which obviously made DT an area of absolute need for the Bears. It's still an area that they will have to address with at least one more rotation level player as well as probably a 2nd round draft pick (ideally). Moving on, defensive end is obviously an area for concern going into free agency with Cornelius Washington, David Bass, Cheta Ozougwu, Lane Austen, and Tracy Robertson the only signed defensive ends going into free agency. I have high hopes for Washington, but still don't think it's safe to count on him. Bass seems to have some good pass rushing skills, but I don't know much about his ability to stop the run. Ozougwu is a solid enough backup, but that's about it. Really closer to a position of need now that I think about it, but because they at least have bodies there I'll keep it to concern since you can only address so many needs in one offseason. Middle linebacker was an area of consideration because I just don't think Bostic is quite ready to be a full time starter there. Lastly, to address another position of need, this is another one that is more halfway, but Tim Jennings is their lone starting corner there from last year. They have a healthy Kelvin Hayden and Isaiah Frey, but those are more nickel guys or backups. The rest of the guys there are backups at very best. Bringing Charles Tillman back or going after another starting quality corner is really a must for the Bears this offseason.
How strange, the offense doesn't have any positions of immediate need. While this is a welcome change from past years, the amount of need on defense is much more than desired, even though we should have seen that coming with age. Anyway, center is the main thing I look at on offense. Garza is getting old, and they have him back for this year, but you would think that they would want to get someone to fill in for him. That's something that can be addressed in the middle of the draft if they want to get someone they feel more confident can start for them in the future. Boggs may wind up being a good player, but I just don't have the confidence in him yet. As for tight end, past Marty the Bears are very thin as far as pass catching goes. Onobun has all the athletic ability in the world, but can't actually catch the ball. Owen Daniels would be a possibility that I would love to see come to Chicago, as he's a big target that can be a serious threat. The only question is with the money and with his health. Zach Miller is a decent backup, but not a difference maker. As for running back, I don't think the Bears would feel totally naked past Forte with Michael Ford as the main backup, but I personally feel like they can do better than that. Maybe get more of a bruiser and go with a double backup type of situation. Quarterback would be a position most people would put as an area of concern, but I'm personally a Jordan Palmer fan. I may be way off, but he has the physical tools to be a solid QB if Cutler goes down. I'd still love to see McCown back, but Palmer as backup wouldn't have me too worried.
So anyway, where are the Bears at those positions now?
Well, with the signing of Houston, the defensive end is now merely just an area of concern rather than being a borderline need. They have one side anchored down, and if Washington does step up like I think he can, then he can take over the other side. However, having Bass there as more of a rusher and a decent backup in Ozougwu there at least gives the Bears some comfort. I'd still like to see them bring Wootton back or sign one more solid end, but it's something that can be easily fixed at this point.
At defensive tackle, like I alluded to above, they now have 2 starting quality tackles in there with Collins and Paea. They still need to get at least one more guy, rather it be in the first round of the draft or if it is a free agent, it's absolutely essential that they get one more guy, and hopefully even one more guy that's at least 4th DT quality.
At corner they're still vulnerable. As of this writing, Charles Tillman still hasn't signed anywhere, but will be visiting teams. It doesn't look good for him to come back, which is a shame. However, there are some good options on the market right now. Either way, the Bears need to make sure to get a starting corner pretty soon while there's still good ones out there.
At linebacker the Bears are fine at this point. Bringing back Williams was absolutely huge. I'd still like to see James Anderson back, but at this point the Bears at least won't be in bad shape with Williams and Briggs there.
At safety the Bears really did make an interesting move by picking up Mundy. Mundy is just now starting to break out in his career. He started 9 games last year, played in all 16, and had 70 tackles to go along with an interception. While he may not be a superstar, he is clearly a step above what the Bears had back there last year, and will be a welcome addition. However, I'd like to see the Bears go after one of the bigger name safeties as well to really solidify that part of the field. The Bears are in need of all the help they can get there.
On offense the Bears really haven't done anything so far. McCown has been talking to several other teams, so it's looking like he'll see what everyone says and make a decision after that. I would like to see them still look at some of the tight ends out there, and can see most of their potential issues as being something that can be looked at in the draft.
So where do the Bears stand now? The areas of consideration and need are pretty much the same right now, only safety is only once over, tackle isn't nearly as desperate of a need, and defensive end is almost out of being an area of consideration now. This doesn't mean that the Bears are putting out a top of the line group in any of these places, but it means that those places won't be a major area of weakness relative to the rest of the league.
The Bears got out to a strong start, and if last year's free agency was any sign, they will be going at every area of weakness by the time the season starts. Things are far from perfect, but moving in the right direction for the Bears.
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