With the Super Bowl over and a competent coaching staff now in place the Bears front office should be poised to make changes this offseason if they want any chance to compete in the near future. For Chicago, it all starts with developing and executing a clear plan this offseason.
Make a Decision on Veterans:
The Bears defense is full of veteran defenders (Jared Allen, Jeremiah Ratliff, Lance Briggs, and Charles Tillman) who at this point are in the twilight of their careers. Is it worth brining back the experience, or is the team better off moving on? With Briggs and Tillman now both free agents, John Fox, Ryan Pace, and the rest of the Bears front office will soon have to make a decision on whether to keep household names or hit the reset button and begin developing a new veteran core. While it certainly would be weird to see Briggs or Tillman playing for a different team in 2015, frankly, the team has greater concerns than keeping its former franchise players happy.
Linebacker Foundation:
Since Urlacher’s retirement (and really since Urlacher’s deterioration) the Bears have lacked an identity at the linebacker position. D.J. Williams has served as nothing more than a stand-in and recent draft picks Jonathan Bostic (2nd round, 2013) and Khaseem Greene (4th round, 2013) have failed to yield much reward. Whether it be through free agency, or preferably the draft, Chicago needs to find new linebackers to come in and fill the void left by Urlacher’s departure after the 2012 season. Ever since number 54 left, the position simply hasn’t been up to the standard this franchise is accustomed to.
Find An Offensive Identity:
For an offense with as much talent as the Bears have, the team could never seem to put all the pieces together. Often they’d start games slow, as they finished tied for 22nd in the NFL scoring 3.7 points per first quarter (Chicago finished third with 6.0 points per first quarter in 2014). In fact, the team ended the season without scoring a single point in the first quarter of their last four straight games, as they never really seemed to be able to execute their game plan properly. With Adam Gase and John Fox now calling plays the Bears should look to run a more consistent and efficient offense in 2015.
Begin Draft Preparations:
As far as I’m concerned, the Bears should have a uniform plan in terms of draft and free agency strategy. Positional needs like linebacker and safety must be a top priority for the team right away and developing a plan for which players and positions to acquire via free agency or the draft must begin to be formulated. Although they pick at number seven, Chicago should begin to have a clearer idea of who and what they want so as to better prepare a plan for free agency.