Free Agent Watch: Soft Market for Jackson and Colston Good News for Chicago Bears

It’s March 1st and that means that NFL Free Agency is less than 2 weeks away.  The Bears will definitely be buyers and if you know the McCaskeys, they’ll be looking for a bargain.  With a need at wide receiver, a couple of Bears potential targets came up recently in an NFL.com post about big name players who could be in for a rude awakening in Free Agency.

Steve Wyche thinks Marques Colston’s price could be lower than expected:

"Colston won’t find many suitors outside New OrleansThere doesn’t seem to be a ton of buzz right now for Saints wide receiver Marques Colston. He is a very good and valuable wide receiver, but people have told me that they’re not quite sure how good he’d be with another team. There will be a team that will be willing to pay him, but maybe not more than the Saints."

I share the concern about how good Colston will be outside of NOLA, but if the price is right, he’s an upgrade over anything the Bears have on their roster.

In the same post, Jason Smith believes that both Colston and San Diego’s Vincent Jackson could come at a discount:

"It’s also going to be softer than expected for Vincent Jackson and Marques Colston. Both are approaching 30 and have different questions surrounding them. Jackson’s best days might be behind him. And with Colston, no one has left New Orleans in the Drew Brees era and lit up the stat sheet. They’ll both get paid, but it won’t be superstar money."

Charley Casserly doesn’t think that Reggie Wayne will be a hot commodity on the free agent market, saying “He also was not a true No. 1 wideout in his prime, either.”

When you consider that guys like Wes Welker, Mike Wallace and Dwayne Bowe are not going to hit the open market, I’ll be interested to see if the market goes up for some of the other guys who actually hit the open market.  If the NFL.com guys are right, it’s great news for the Bears to try to find some bargains to rebuild their wide receiver corp.