Brad Biggs Reveals Chicago Bears Free Agency Plans May Be Unexpected

The Chicago Bears look like a team that could be one off-season away from pushing themselves into the postseason picture. Their 7-10 finish this past year was disappointing, but not because it failed to meet expectations. It was actually a notable improvement from their 3-14 campaign in 2022. More it was because they knew they would've been in the playoffs if not for some ugly 4th quarter collapses against Denver, Detroit, and Cleveland. Players in the locker room knew how close they were. It would explain why guys were so optimistic about next year.

What remains to be seen is what GM Ryan Poles has planned this off-season. Everybody is focused on the NFL draft for obvious reasons. Chicago has the #1 and #9 picks in the 1st round. Hitting on both of them could set the franchise up for massive success in the near future. However, there is still free agency before that. The Bears have over $46 million in cap space and can create another $21 million without much effort. Maybe they have a big swing in mind this March. Well, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune doesn't see that happening.

"Center also looms as a position of need for the Bears, and it’s going to be interesting to see how they attack it.

They could go the free-agent route, but I am expecting them to be less active than they were a year ago on the open market. It would be a bit of an upset if there were a bigger deal to be done than the one the Bears try to hammer out with cornerback Jaylon Johnson.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the team considered some veterans in free agency to anchor the line, but you can’t rule out the draft."

This lines up with the Chicago Bears' preferred strategy.

Remember, GM Ryan Poles stated from the moment he took over that his goal was to build through the draft. That meant becoming far less reliant on free agency to fill holes on the roster. What he did last year was more the exception, not the rule. He utilized the Bears' vast cap space to help prop up the defense. Otherwise, he did most of the building through the draft with Darnell Wright, Tyrique Stevens, and Gervon Dexter. While the Bears only have six picks this year, that figures to change. Presuming Justin Fields gets traded, that should push the number to seven or eight. One can presume Poles will maneuver more during the draft to secure more.

He is committed to this course because he believes that is the only way to create sustained, long-term success for a franchise. Poles doesn't want to fall into the same trap previous Chicago Bears GMs did. They'd spend big in free agency, create a brief window of success, and then watch snap shut almost as fast. Constantly investing in youth is the way to go. While the Bears will still do some spending on the market to help improve team depth, don't expect them to go big-game hunting this year.