Bears Mailbag - Early Thoughts On Free Agency

This past Championship weekend was fun. The Patriots came back to stun the Jaguars and send Tom Brady and Bill Belichick to their eighth Super Bowl together. Eighth! And the Eagles crushed the Vikings at home to deny Minnesota the chance to become the first team in NFL history to play in the Super Bowl while hosting it in their own home stadium (U.S. Bank Stadium is the venue this year). Speaking of Championship weekend, the goal for the Chicago Bears is to be back in the playoffs soon and contend for a chance to play in the Big Game -- hopefully as soon as next year! In order to prepare, the team sent GM Ryan Pace and new head coach Matt Nagy to Mobile, Alabama this week to scout the Senior Bowl where a large group of interesting prospects are showcasing their stuff in an effort to prepare for the NFL Draft. This is one of many steps the Bears will take in their talent acquisition cycle as they prepare for next season. The draft is still a long ways away though. And while mock drafts are fun, they're completely and utterly useless. What's more, is that free agency precedes the draft and will allow teams to fill many of their needs before heading into draft weekend in April. In our Bears Mailbag this week, many people asked about what might happen in free agency. Projecting that is also useless, but also fun. So we took a shot -- in addition to answering other questions as well. Thanks to everyone who submitted questions.

I'll also add Demaryius Thomas to this list. Benjamin Allbright of Mile High Sports in Denver reported that the Broncos shopped Thomas at the 2017 trade deadline and will likely look to move him this offseason, too. Thomas just turned 30 years old so maybe he can still possibly be an effective player. And given the reported discontent, I wouldn't be surprised if he was available for relatively cheap.

That being said, if I'm being realistic and sticking to this list, I think I would say that Allen Robinson and Jarvis Landry are the two receivers I'm looking at. Robinson is likely to sign a prove-it type deal coming off his torn ACL, so he would come at a relatively small price with a terrific potential benefit. And while I don't think Landry is quite as good a receiver as he's hyped to be, he is certainly a strong slot player that would fit in the West Coast offense that Nagy will be implementing. I feel like Landry will realize his value isn't quite what he thinks it is, and his asking price will eventually come down. At that point, I'd bring him on board. I don't really have a dream list here, to be honest. Though I think he's still talented, I want nothing to do with Dez Bryant. If Thomas is truly not the same player now that he's on that vegan diet as Allbright reported, then I'm not sure it's worth forking over draft compensation for that contract. Sammy Watkins has a lengthy injury history, and despite good health this year, I would hesitate to give him the big money he undoubtedly wants. And A.J. Green will likely straight up cost too much to be worth dreaming about. Read on for more WR talk, though!

As I stated in the response above, there are plenty of receivers that could be available via trade. I don't think it's a great route to go quite yet. Also keep an eye out for players that teams end up cutting from their rosters due to salary cap constraints, roster bonuses, etc. There could be intriguing names that get released after the Super Bowl ends. But from what we know right now, here's my current proposed plan of attack at WR:

• Re-sign Cam Meredith, Kendall Wright, and Dontrelle Inman.
• Try to sign Paul Richardson and Allen Robinson (on that prove-it deal).
• If Jarvis Landry's asking price comes down to the more reasonable $11M range, try to sign him as well. If he's demanding $13M+ annually with a hefty guarantee, hard pass.
• Draft a WR or even two at various points in the draft -- though I'm not keen on spending a first round pick on one. Simmie Cobbs in the second round is a name to watch. Allen Lazard is a name to watch in later rounds.
• Anything that Kevin White can give you next year is an added bonus.

With this plan, the Bears have economically, and still rather dramatically, increased the talent pool and competition as it related to WR. And of course, if better options flood the market as cuts come in, go swimming in those waters!

By all accounts, the Bears seem to like Cairo Santos a lot. He was released from the Kansas City Chiefs after suffering a groin injury and the Bears had him in for workouts and other tests at various points before they eventually signed him. It's clear they wanted him to be the heir to Connor Barth, but he re-injured himself shortly after assuming his responsibilities and was placed on injured reserve. With a full off-season, he should be healthy for next year. What's more, is that he will only be 26 when the 2018 season kicks off, so he's young enough to contribute for the next decade if he performs well and stays healthy. Pat O'Donnell is coming off a pretty solid year punting the football, and has done well as a holder despite the merry-go-round of long snappers and kickers that have come and played for the Bears. I would think Chicago would look to give him a reasonable extension as well. It's unlikely he would command anything too expensive. But similar to what I mentioned above with receivers, it'll be interesting to see who becomes available after teams make their cuts early in the off-season. It's possible the Bears will value a kicker or punter from another team more than their current setup and make the switch. Stay tuned.

If you're looking for specific names that the Bears have zeroed in on, it's way too soon to know. After the Super Bowl, teams throughout the NFL will start making roster cuts in preparation for the new league year and free agency. At that point, there could be a ton of interesting names flooding the pool of players in whom the Bears could be interested. At this point, it's tough to size up the market. The first order of business will be to release and potentially re-sign their own free agents. Players like Cam Meredith, Kendall Wright, Dontrelle Inman, Prince Amukamara, and of course, Kyle Fuller are certain to be the Bears' biggest priorities. Once they have their own free agents taken care of, they can move to evaluate external free agents.

To me, the biggest concern is Mitch Trubisky's development. He certainly flashed a lot last year and showed enough to be optimistic that the Bears have found their quarterback of the future. But he certainly showed he has plenty to work on, especially with regards to his footwork and mechanics that, when out of sync, disrupted his accuracy. And remember, he also has to absorb a brand new playbook and get accustomed to working with Matt Nagy and Mark Helfrich -- which should be easier than working with Dowell Loggains, but still. It's an adjustment. If Trubisky can make the necessary tweaks to his mechanics and learn all the playbook concepts that Nagy and Helfrich will try to instill, the Bears should be ready to start strong next year on offense. If he can't, the Bears will be in trouble. The good thing is, by all accounts, Trubisky is a hard worker and quick learner, so we can rightfully stay positive. And accuracy was not a problem for Trubisky in his college tape, so it's reasonable to assume that issue will get resolved. But still, the what-ifs are certainly there. Rooting hard for Trubisky to take the next step.