Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
The first week of free agency is over and the Bears have made a few moves, though way less than most teams with $30 million plus to spend in free agency. New Bears GM Ryan Pace is taking a cautious, measured approach to free agency so far. In the short-term the Bears are missing out on the best players in free agency, but a few weeks from now when veteran players with high cap numbers are getting released, the Bears will have more money than just about any team in the league to snatch up experienced vets who were recently good enough to deserve big contracts.
The Bears haven’t been completely silent during free agency with three quality signings in OLB Pernell McPhee, S Antrel Rolle, and WR Eddie Royal and are rumored to be in the mix for another few players.
1.) One player the Bears won’t be signing is safety Ron Parker from the Kansas City Chiefs. Parker spent two days in Chicago negotiating with the Bears, but on Saturday decided to return to the Chiefs at a surprising $6M per season. I hear the Bears were offering $5M max while Parker was asking for $6-$7M. After watching a decent amount of tape on Parker I’m not sure why any team is willing to give him more than $4M. Parker was on 4 teams before signing with the Chiefs in 2013 and last year was his first year as a starter. His play improved steadily as the season went on, but he is best suited as backup at either free safety or corner. The Bears could have used the depth at both positions, but $6M is too much too pay for a borderline starter.