Chicago Bears - 2018 Offseason Objectives

As the NFL offseason is in full swing, it’s a perfect opportunity to evaluate where each team was in 2017, and where they plan to go in the New Year. Let’s begin the review of the Chicago Bears.

2017 Season Recap:

Coming into the 2017 season, John Fox was rumored to be on the hot seat unless he was able to show signs of improvement for his third campaign with the Bears. Coming off a horrible 3-13 season in 2016, it gave the Bears the third overall selection in the 2017 NFL draft. Replacing long time quarterback Jay Cutler was the top priority on the agenda, to which they had an opportunity either through free agency and the draft. Surprising to most, the Chicago Bears choose to address the most important position from both avenues. Initially, Bears general manager Ryan Pace made an unthinkable transaction signing former Tampa Bay Buccaneers backup – Mike Glennon to a 3 year 45 million dollar deal with 18.5 million guaranteed. Instantly the masses questioned this move as Glennon hadn’t experienced much of any success in the NFL as a starting caliber quarterback. Pegged as the starter upon signing his contract, Fox had a new mediocre option to lead his team. Approaching the 2017 draft, buzz began over who the Bears would select third overall. With fear that another team would jump the board, GM Ryan Pace gave up what was arguably too much to move up one spot with the 49ers - to select potential franchise quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. With both moves accounting for transition, one obviously longer term then the other, Fox was challenged with generating a winning season with second-rate talent and a rookie unprepared to start day one. With only five selections made in 2017, the Bears did amass some quality potential and playmaking ability.

To start the season Chicago hosted the Super Bowl runner up Atlanta Falcons, and gave them a run for their money nearly completing the upset. Aside from opening day, there wasn’t much to cheer about for the Chicago faithful in 2017. The victories the Bears were able to pull out did involve higher caliber teams providing arguments that this team in fact did have talent. Shocking the Steelers in week 3 behind the great running Jordan Howard gave the Bears their first win of the year. The following week John Fox gave up on mediocrity after losing to the Packers, benching Mike Glennon who received 18.5 million dollars to captain the Bears to only one victory before he was relegated to the bench. Chicago was able to put together a winning streak of two games in week 6 & 7 against the Ravens and Panthers behind rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. Holding a record of 3-4, Chicago showed signs of life which never fully materialized. Injuries played a massive role in the demise as the Bears lost top end talent on their squad as the season wore on. After winning their two straight contests the Bears finished the year with a 2-7 record dropping their season total to 5-11, and ultimately getting John Fox a first class ticket to the unemployment line.

While the tenure of John Fox in Chicago promoted more losing then winning, it wasn’t entirely his fault. Truthfully Fox did an admiral job trying to produce a winning product with throw away pieces and malfunctioning products. In his three years Fox was able to stabilize the Bears defensive unit that showed signs of great improvement over the course of the season. Patience isn’t a luxury NFL clubs are willing to provide as the expectation is winning and John Fox wasn’t able to deliver.     

2018 Offseason Workbook:

Offseason Review:

Back to the drawing board for general manager Ryan Pace and the Bears top management to continue the execution of this rebuild. While John Fox was relieved of his position, team owner gifted general manager Ryan Pace with a contract extension providing trust and belief in what his road map illustrates. Beginning the search to find a new head coach, Pace didn’t take long pilfering former Kansas City Chief and Andy Reid disciple - Matt Nagy to rein over the Bears for the foreseeable future. Climbing the ranks rather quickly, Nagy showed his extreme work ethic with both the Eagles and the Chiefs after he followed Andy Reid to the mid-west. Holding a role for the Chiefs most recently as offensive coordinator and quarterback guru, the Bears felt he was the perfect man for the job to instruct the young potential franchise pivot in Mitchell Trubisky. While Nagy wasted no time evaluating and coming to a decision on his coaching staff - he retained Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio as the Chicago defense definitely wasn’t the glaring issue from last season. Adding to his staff with outside the box thinking, Nagy hired former Oregon coach Mark Helfrich to take of the duties of being the new offensive coordinator. Though it’s been rumoured Nagy will control most if not all of the play calling responsibilities for the Bears, Helfrich will be involved with game planning and helping develop their second year quarterback.

The main focus entering this offseason will be to greatly improve an offensive unit that struggled mightily to produce with exception of the run game. The Bears were statistical bottom feeders in 2017 generating a 29^th ranked scoring unit (16.5 PPG), compiling the 32^th ranked passing offense (175.7 YPG), and ranking 30^th overall in total offensive yardage (287.4 YPG). The only bright spot offensively was the effective running of Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen, providing the 16^th ranked rush offense (111.8 YPG), which is very impressive knowing most defenses stacked the box expecting the run. Trubisky at times looked the part of a maturing prospect throwing great passes all over the field. His growing pains were equally met as defenses confused him forcing the issue and making mistakes. While the offense had its tribulations, a lot can be credited to the extreme lack of talent at the receiver and tight end positions. The Bears will have to make some splash and bring in viable talent for Mitchell to throw to. Having third stingers and depth players round out the core was the greatest concern for Chicago.

Defensively, the Bears are a solid unit that with the right additions could turn into a dominating squad the likes Chicago has come accustomed to. Far too often the Bears were playing from behind which created fatigue as games moved forward placing great strain on that side of the ball. The resilience of this unit being placed in terrible situations still maintained top flight numbers for the campaign. Holding rankings in almost all categories in the top ten shows how impressive they really were. The Bears defense ranked 9^th in points allowed (20.0 PPG), 10^th in total yards allowed (319.1 YPG), 7^th in pass defense (211.0 YPG), and 11^th in rush defense (108.1 YPG), very impressive. Amidst all the injuries this side endured, receiving that talent back while adding more pieces will only improve what Chicago puts on the field in 2018.        

 

Rostered Free Agents:

A great positive for the Bears going into the 2018 offseason is the amount of cap space they currently have. With a whopping 51 million at their disposal, Chicago has ample opportunities to right this ship very quickly. With all that space the Bears do have a long list of free agents in need of contracts if they choose to move in that direction. The biggest names that might receive a contract offers to return to Chicago are; DB Prince Amukamara, G Josh Sitton, DB Kyle Fuller, LB Sam Acho, WR Dontrelle Inman, WR Kendal Wright. These players did preform admirably last season for the Bears, however boasting a 5-11 record would suggest this team would like to move forward in another direction. Amukamara did enjoy a solid campaign that bolstered above average play from the Bears secondary. His price tag does put him in a situation where the Bears will look elsewhere to replicate the skillset. Resigning their starting Guard Josh Sitton would more than likely become the main priority so long as the cap number is favorable to the team. Kendal Wright and Dontrelle Inman are very interesting players, as they would provide great value depth so long the Bears can add top notch talent to the position.

Looking to be active in the free agent market, the obvious cut candidate is free agent bust Mike Glennon, as the Bears could save a nice 11.5 million dollars cutting him loose. Another free agent bust that would be easy to get off the books with little dead money is tight end Dion Sims. Releasing the former Dolphin would give Chicago roughly another 5.6 million to play with. Cutting bait with yet another free agent super bust, the Bears would be happy to send former Steeler - Markus Wheaton packing saving an additional 5 million dollars. If GM Ryan Pace was so inclined, he could also cut bait with LB Pernell McPhee placing another 7 million on the books. If the Bears choose to eat crow and admit to their mistake signings, they could add a very healthy 29 million dollars to the cap and become big players in the free agent market. With the potential to add top end talent from the market in the form of Trumaine Johnson, Jimmy Graham, Dontari Poe, Johnathan Joseph etc. The Chicago Bears could look very different and much improved going into the season. Bears fans should be very excited to see how they shape this club.     

NFL Draft:

The Bears go into this draft holding 7 picks missing their 3^rd round selection and having two 4^th round picks at their disposal. Having only two picks in the top 39 selections then waiting to pick all the way down to 101, the Bears will undoubtedly have to get creative to generate more top end picks in this draft. In terms of need, there isn’t anything off the table where Chicago wouldn’t be able to improve upon aside from running back. Wide receiver is a massive hole on this team that surely will be addressed in both free agency and the draft. Be on the lookout for the Bears to possibly trade down in the first round gathering more picks while holding tight in a receiver heavy draft class. Adding talent to a defense that was quite strong last season and very underrated, would likely be a great move as coach Nagy will likely lean on that unit as the offensive struggles may continue as they try and instruct young Trubisky.

ADF wouldn’t be surprised if the Bears are very active on the phones come draft day to try and garner more picks to help build this team. The largest question mark going into the draft is general manager Ryan Pace. He will need to make sound moves and execute this to perfection; otherwise we shall see more time rebuilding this squad.          

Overall for 2018:

Truly when reviewing the film and looking over the Bears roster, Chicago isn’t a team that is as far away as some people may think. That defense was a solid unit that bent but didn’t break as the offense placed them in terrible situations majority of the time. If Mitchell Turbisky can continue to grow, provided the Bears will deliver and give him talented playmakers, we could see a strong team in the next couple years. The Bears indeed remind us of another team that recently excelled under a coaching change – The Los Angeles Rams! LA had many great talented pieces in place but lacked overall direction. I’m definitely not saying the Bears have all the talent in place as of yet, but with this free agent market and a potential to score big in the draft, Chicago could become a similar story much like the Rams.