Chicago Bears: Potential Waiver Wire Additions

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DT Louis Nix – Many fans wanted the Bears to draft Nix in the first round of the 2014 draft. The Bears took Fuller instead which is still a debatable pick, but he has turned out much better than Nix who missed all of 2014 with a broken wrist and struggled so much in the preseason this year that the Texan released him. Nix has always had early first round talent, but he’s never quite lived up to it even when he was healthy in college. He has a quicker first step than any man 6’4, 340 pounds should and has potentially elite power. The tools are still there for Nix to be a dominant nose tackle, he just needs to get healthy, keep his weight around 340, and play with consistent motivation which hasn’t happened yet for Nix but he’s only 24 so there is still plenty of time.

S Jonathan Meeks – Former 5th round pick in 2013 who has been injured for most of his pro career, but flashed talent in limited preseason snaps. Meeks has good size (6’1 | 210), speed (4.51) ball-skills (7 INTs), and was a big hitter against the run during his time at Clemson. He also has the versatility to play either free or strong safety which would make Meeks an ideal fit for Vic Fangio’s scheme and talent-wise he’d be a big upgrade over the Bears current backup safeties.

OG Ryan Groy – The Bears traded Groy to the Patriots for 6th round pick, ILB Matthew Wells, but that was before the Bears O-line started falling apart. I’m not sure if the new Bears front office wasn’t high on Groy or if they just had to give up talent to get a player to fill a more pressing need. Either way, the Pats just cut Groy and with the Bears current O-line woes I wouldn’t mind having him back. Groy showed flashes of being a mauling run blocker in limited snaps late last season.

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S Craig Dahl – Was a decent back-up safety for the Niners with roughly league average play when given a chance (PFF) and was a key member of their special teams unit. The Bears could use help at both safety and on special teams and DC Vic Fangio is obviously familiar with what Dahl brings to the table from his time in San Fran. Any help the Bears can get at safety would be a good thing even if it’s just a moderate upgrade like Dahl.

DL Anthony Johnson – Rookie who played just under 100 snaps for the Dolphins last year but showed signs of potential. Johnson has the size to play DE in the Bears 3-4 scheme (6’2 | 304) and was projected to be a day 2 pick before surprisingly falling out of the draft due to a poor combine and some off-field concerns. His tape at LSU was promising and I had Johnson ranked just under Ego Ferguson and Will Sutton before last year’s draft. Johnson would still be in Miami if not for the signings of Suh, Earl Mitchell, and CJ Mosley, there just weren’t enough D-line spots on the roster for Johnson. The talent is there for Fangio to mold and the Bears could definitely use the depth on the D-line.

WR Kenbrell Thompkins – Had a promising rookie year for the Pats in 2013 with 32 catches for 466 yards and 4 TDs, but was released before the 2014 season and didn’t do much after being picked up by the Raiders. Despite only being in the league for two seasons, Thompkins is already 27 so probably doesn’t have much upside left but the fact that he has already had some success at the NFL level is more than most of the Bears back-up WRs can say.

WR Denarius Moore – After averaging 43 catches and roughly 6 TDs per season over his first three years in the league (11-13), Moore suffered through an injury plagued 2014 campaign. Moore has a promising size (6’0 | 194) / speed (4.45) ratio and showed the ability to be a dangerous deep threat in Oakland despite having sub-par QBs throwing him the ball. Moore signed with the Bengals this offseason, but couldn’t crack a deep WR group. Moore has more upside than any of the Bears current backups and would be a low-risk, potentially high reward signing.