First look at the Bears offseason (mock free agents and full draft)

[Lake Shore Drive]

A few more signings of players I was tracking and hoping might end up as Bears, plus their contracts:

Ethan Pocic, C - re-signed with the Browns, 3/18, guarantee amount not disclosed
Ben Powers, G - signed with the Broncos, 4/52, 28.5 guaranteed
Bobby Okereke, LB - signed with the Giants, 4/40, 22 guaranteed
Jamel Dean, CB - resigned with the Buccaneers, terms not yet disclosed

The most perplexing one above is Okereke, who signed for a helluva lot less than what it cost to ink Edmunds, and who seemed to be a better fit for our defense. But I have to assume the Bears staff and brass did their due diligence which led them to their decision. On paper, no doubt Edmunds is the superior LB, but it's the fit to the defense that left me wondering. Guess we'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, it would behoove Poles to sign someone from the DL, our weakest unit last year.

 

[wood20ks]

A few more signings of players I was tracking and hoping might end up as Bears, plus their contracts:

Ethan Pocic, C - re-signed with the Browns, 3/18, guarantee amount not disclosed
Ben Powers, G - signed with the Broncos, 4/52, 28.5 guaranteed
Bobby Okereke, LB - signed with the Giants, 4/40, 22 guaranteed
Jamel Dean, CB - resigned with the Buccaneers, terms not yet disclosed

The most perplexing one above is Okereke, who signed for a helluva lot less than what it cost to ink Edmunds, and who seemed to be a better fit for our defense. But I have to assume the Bears staff and brass did their due diligence which led them to their decision. On paper, no doubt Edmunds is the superior LB, but it's the fit to the defense that left me wondering. Guess we'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, it would behoove Poles to sign someone from the DL, our weakest unit last year.

Kinda figured we were not signing a 3rd lb,but Dean crossed my mind......oh well we wait for tomorrow.......

Im for Zach Allen and/or Dre'Mont......but like you saaid,we will wait and see......

 

[BearsWillWin]

Holy shit, I just saw that. Gotta be honest, I have no clue what the Bears strategy is here. So far we only ink two players. We sign not one but two LBs, who both are MIKEs. Someone make sense of this for me.

Both can also easily play weak side. Which one you put there I honestly don’t know. Early guess is Edmunds I guess.

 

[wood20ks]

Zach Allen.....he gone....

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Both can also easily play weak side. Which one you put there I honestly don’t know. Early guess is Edmunds I guess.

I thought Edwards would be the one to move over, but then I read in one of the local rags that Flus believes Edmunds should play the WILL, so you could very well be right.

 

[BsGenius]

Bears sign DE DeMarcus Walker from Titans. He had 7 sacks last year.
3 years 21M

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Zach Allen.....he gone....

Damn Broncos again. Gotta give em credit tho, they're being aggressive in who they're going after.

Some key free agents who have yet to be signed, that is as far as I know at this point:

Orlando Brown, Jr, OT
Kaleb McGary, OT
Connor McGovern, C
Garrett Bradbury, C
David Montgomery, RB
Devin Singletary, RB
Miles Sanders, RB
Kareem Hunt, RB
Dalvin Tomlinson, DT
Dre'Mont Jones, DT
Sheldon Rankins, DT
Yannick Ngakoue, DE/Edge
Arden Key, DE/Edge
Marcus Davenport, DE/Edge
James Bradberry, CB
Isaiah Oliver, CB

I'm basing the above names more on positional need than anything. Not sure if Poles has the center spot as a key need for us, being this year's draft contains some decent talent there. But if so, these two seem to be the best remaining on the board. I reluctantly added Marcus Davenport to this list even tho I feel he's overhyped and will command too much money for his level of production. And we all know that O. Brown, who at least brings a solid game, will be one of the costliest free agents in '23, which makes you wonder if he's even on the Bears radar. As for RB, unless or until Montgomery commits to the Bears, we have to look at other options. But assuming he doesn't sign, it wouldn't surprise me if Poles waits until the draft to fill the void.

 

[wood20ks]

Bears sign DE DeMarcus Walker from Titans. He had 7 sacks last year.
3 years 21M

Just looked him up.....last year was his best year.....but the Bears will be his 4th team in 4 yrs......concerning??

 

[BsGenius]

Just looked him up.....ladt year was his best year.....but the Bears will be hid 4th team in 4 yrs......concerning??

Yeah not a fan of this signing. Seems like a depth rotational guy however he would have led our line last year in sacks.

 

[wood20ks]

Damn Broncos again. Gotta give em credit tho, they're being aggressive in who they're going after.

Some key free agents who have yet to be signed, that is as far as I know at this point:

Orlando Brown, Jr, OT
Kaleb McGary, OT
Connor McGovern, C
Garrett Bradbury, C
David Montgomery, RB
Devin Singletary, RB
Miles Sanders, RB
Kareem Hunt, RB
Dalvin Tomlinson, DT
Dre'Mont Jones, DT
Sheldon Rankins, DT
Yannick Ngakoue, DE/Edge
Arden Key, DE/Edge
Marcus Davenport, DE/Edge
James Bradberry, CB
Isaiah Oliver, CB

I'm basing the above names more on positional need than anything. Not sure if Poles has the center spot as a key need for us, being this year's draft contains some decent talent there. But if so, these two seem to be the best remaining on the board. I reluctantly added Marcus Davenport to this list even tho I feel he's overhyped and will command too much money for his level of production. And we all know that O. Brown, who at least brings a solid game, will be one of the costliest free agents in '23, which makes you wonder if he's even on the Bears radar. As for RB, unless or until Montgomery commits to the Bears, we have to look at other options. But assuming he doesn't sign, it wouldn't surprise me if Poles waits until the draft to fill the void.

Was gonna adk about Montgomery if thetes been any news.......
Also was eondering hiw much money was left,anyone know......??
And theres still a few more decent names left......would aleast like to see 1 more......
McGary
DreMont
And a couple towatds the bottom of your list.....

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Looks like another bites the dust.....and this is one of the bigger ones:

Notoriously slow in the first wave of free agency, the Seahawks have now agreed to sign Denver Broncos defensive tackle Dre'mont Jones to a three-year deal, worth $51 million. According to NFL's Ian Rapoport, Jones will receive $23.5 million this season.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Was gonna adk about Montgomery if thetes been any news.......
Also was eondering hiw much money was left,anyone know......??
And theres still a few more decent names left......would aleast like to see 1 more......
McGary
DreMont
And a couple towatds the bottom of your list.....

As my follow up post just indicated, no Dre'Mont, he gone. At least with the DeMarcus Walker signing, while hardly a showstopper, he does bring an elevated level of talent to the DE/Edge spot at a bargain basement price. Can't say I'm thrilled, but Lawdy knows we need all the pass rushing help we can get.

Still in need of a high end DT and OT. The question is, if Poles acquires neither in the coming days, who gets taken with the first pick next month?

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

The guy who wrote this article for CBS Sports could benefit from a 3rd grade math refresher course:

Chicago already got a head start on a victorious offseason when it moved the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft for a mega-package including star WR D.J. Moore. And the additions of both the Bills' Tremaine Edmunds (4 years, $72M) and Eagles' T.J. Edwards ($19.5M) will surely shore up the middle of Matt Eberflus' defense. But it's also a bit odd they're spending $90M+ on a pair of inside linebackers when they could've locked up homegrown star Roquan Smith for less.

Uh, the contract Smith received from the Ravens is for $100mil, which is the exact amount he was demanding from the Bears. And last I checked 100 beats 90. Maybe it's the new math or something. And the other math equation seems to have been lost on this guy. We end up with two very talented linebackers for $10mil less than one very talented linebacker.

 

[BeaReylo]

And the additions of both the Bills' Tremaine Edmunds (4 years, $72M) and Eagles' T.J. Edwards ($19.5M) will surely shore up the middle of Matt Eberflus' defense. But it's also a bit odd they're spending $90M+ on a pair of inside linebackers when they could've locked up homegrown star Roquan Smith for less.

Uh, the contract Smith received from the Ravens is for $100mil, which is the exact amount he was demanding from the Bears. And last I checked 100 beats 90. Maybe it's the new math or something. And the other math equation seems to have been lost on this guy. We end up with two very talented linebackers for $10mil less than one very talented linebacker.

He must be using The Steiner equation to get his numbers.

 

[BearsWillWin]

Yeah not a fan of this signing. Seems like a depth rotational guy however he would have led our line last year in sacks.

I like him as a rotational guy with Gipson if you can draft a stud pass rusher to play the opposite side.

If they are looking at him as a 80% of downs type starter I don't like it at all.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

I like him as a rotational guy with Gipson if you can draft a stud pass rusher to play the opposite side.

If they are looking at him as a 80% of downs type starter I don't like it at all.

They didn't sign Walker to be a rotational guy. He'll go into camp as a starter. How he performs there and in preseason in order to merit the ranking is another story. This is why I'm not exactly thrilled with his signing. Unless Poles has another DE/Edge on his radar (Yannick Ngakoue anyone?), meet our new #1 pass rusher.

 

[BearsWillWin]

They didn't sign Walker to be a rotational guy. He'll go into camp as a starter. How he performs there and in preseason in order to merit the ranking is another story. This is why I'm not exactly thrilled with his signing. Unless Poles has another DE/Edge on his radar (Yannick Ngakoue anyone?), meet our new #1 pass rusher.

With the way FA is shaking out...gotta believe Poles is drafting our #1 pass rusher.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

With the way FA is shaking out...gotta believe Poles is drafting our #1 pass rusher.

And herein lies the dilemma that I was hoping could have been and perhaps can still be avoided with free agency. Right now we remain devoid of a stud DT as well as a likewise DE/Edge. In fact, I think I'd rank the need for a DT even higher at this point. All the top candidates are gone, having signed with other clubs. Maybe Sheldon Rankins, but that's getting a bit picky.

 

[BearsWillWin]

And herein lies the dilemma that I was hoping could have been and perhaps can still be avoided with free agency. Right now we remain devoid of a stud DT as well as a likewise DE/Edge. In fact, I think I'd rank the need for a DT even higher at this point. All the top candidates are gone, having signed with other clubs. Maybe Sheldon Rankins, but that's getting a bit picky.

Three picks in the first 2 rounds.

And everyone needs to remember that when you have a million holes on your roster...you aren't filling them all in one offseason.

You aren't filling every spot with a stud future pro bowler this offseason. That's just silly.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Three picks in the first 2 rounds.

And everyone needs to remember that when you have a million holes on your roster...you aren't filling them all in one offseason.

You aren't filling every spot with a stud future pro bowler this offseason. That's just silly.

Yeah, agreed. I wasn't trying to make a claim that only the first round addresses our biggest needs. It was more about which position will be the one taken with the #9 pick. One thing we haven't discussed yet in these last few posts is whether we'll even go D with our first pick. Yeah, we signed a decent guard in Nat Davis, but there still remains a glaring hole for an OT. We can't overlook the possibility that Poles uses his first pick on this spot.