The Chicago Bears are unlikely to make waves in free agency this year. That’s a good thing.
I want a boring free agency period
So far, the biggest news for Chicago might have been the release of Sam Acho, a linebacker who played 666 defensive snaps across the last two seasons (out of more than 2000). Non-news has predominated. Cody Parkey is being released? Well, yeah. The Bears met with running backs at the combine? Umm...sure.
Free agency is a time for excitement among teams that are in upheaval. At its best, it is a time when fans can peruse the list of available free agents and speculate about whether or not their teams will be able to put together an offer to attract high-level talent. At its worst, it’s a time when fans of perennial contenders worry about whether or not some vital piece of a team at the top is about to leave for greener pastures (or, at least, for more green in their paychecks).
The Bears are not a perennial contender (yet), but they are also no longer in upheaval. In fact, the key players the Bears could lose to free agency are a nickelback with tremendous upside and an underappreciated safety. Losing either of these defensive backs would be a disappointment, but it also would not be a surprise. More than that, losing these players would do little to make waves.
Goldman, Hicks, Floyd, and (of course) Mack are all accounted for. Smith, Trevathan, Jackson, and Fuller know where they are going to play. The defense might take a step back because there is only one direction for them to go after being first, but that’s about it.
On offense, what is there to do? The wide receiver corps has already been rebuilt in free agency. The tight ends are a mix of promising talent and moderately expensive veterans, and while it’s hard to say that the offense dominated last year, it’s equally hard to come up with a single move (or even a pair of moves) that is both plausible and likely to have an impact. The Bears know what they are doing at quarterback, both for reasons of initial investment and a lack of alternatives--although an optimist might point out that being “stuck” with Trubisky is just fine.
Boring is good, at this point.
An exciting free agency period would involve the Bears getting into a bidding war over a current player or a replacement for the same.
Of course, there are other ways for teams to make the news in the offseason. Few of those are good. Ownership or coaches could be caught up in some sort of scandal (either of their own making or as a result of outside factors). Players could face personal or legal troubles. None of the ways to make an offseason exciting, though, are promising for a team trying to make the next step.
The Bears need a boring offseason. They have already done their due diligence and ‘drafted’ a defensive gamechanger (Mack) and a potential offensive star (Miller). For once, no news is good news in Chicago.
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