Chicago Bears Free Agent Profiles: Corey Wootton

Aug 15, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Bears defensive end Corey Wootton (98) celebrates a sack during the first quarter against the San Diego Chargers at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Free agency is just a couple of weeks away and we’re taking a look at the Chicago Bears pending free agents to see who might make sense to bring back.  Some of the biggest names were already brought back – Cutler, Jennings, Gould and Slauson – but there are still plenty of guys that don’t know where they’ll be next season.  I’m looking at these based on their 2013 cap hit, so next up is defensive end/tackle Corey Wootton.

Corey Wootton is probably one of the more interesting Chicago Bears free agents.  I wouldn’t at all be surprised if he drew interest from other teams around the league.  Wootton is coming off his rookie contract, so he’ll be looking to cash in.  He “took one for the team” last season when he moved inside to play defensive tackle after the Bears’ defense was decimated by injuries.  That’s a big move for a guy in a contract year, especially coming off a career high 7 sack season in 2012.

Wootton has all the physical tools to be the edge pass rusher the Bears desperately need.  Things were just coming together for him when he accepted a position change to help the team.   With a lot of speculation about Julius Peppers’ future and Shea McClellin moving to linebacker, someone’s got to stick around a play defensive end, right?