The draft starts in Mobile. That is the tagline for the highly-anticipated Senior Bowl, one of the year's most important pre-draft events. It is where most of the top seniors in a draft class get together, practice for an entire week, and play an all-star game. Some of the best players the NFL has seen in recent years go through this event. That is why GM Ryan Poles and the Chicago Bears will personally attend the action. It doesn't hurt offensive coordinator Luke Getsy will be the head coach for one of the teams.
However, there might be another reason for fans to keep their eyes and ears open this week. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune dropped some unexpected knowledge on why.
"Free agency chatter begins at the Senior Bowl, which gets going Monday. Mix top executives from nearly all 32 teams with agents for high-profile players in Mobile, Ala., for a few days and exploratory conversations can be the impetus to deals being done six weeks later. It’s tampering but the kind of thing that happens every year when teams and agents can claim they are discussing anything but what lies ahead in free agency."
Obviously, there won't be any big announcements about free agents. Those don't come until around the start of March. However, Bears fans shouldn't be surprised if they start hearing little whispers about certain names to keep an eye on, especially with their team loaded up on cap space this year.
The Chicago Bears will get a gauge of what's coming.
Poles will be able to start collecting details from agents and other teams about which players will most likely get re-signed, franchise tagged, or hit the open market. He'll also have a strong indication of the money required to land specific names he may have interest in. The Bears GM promised that he wouldn't do any crazy spending. He wants to be selective in his approach and smart with his money. Winning free agency is not a recipe for long-term success. So don't expect a landslide of moves.
That said, there are almost sure to be two or three names the Chicago Bears have circled on their board that they really want. It is possible we may get some rumblings about who those players might be by the end of this week. If nothing else, it is another reason to expect the off-season will get into high gear as February begins. Both the Senior Bowl and scouting combine take place during this stretch. We should get clearer details on what Poles has planned for this roster soon enough.
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