The Chicago Bears and Lance Dunbar had a meeting Wednesday in Chicago. Dunbar, formerly of the Dallas Cowboys, is a free agent and hasn’t gotten many looks from teams at this point. Now that the better options like Lamar Miller, Matt Forte, and CJ Anderson are off the board, backs like Dunbar are going to get longer looks from teams.
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Dunbar is a seldom used back that does have some use as a pass catcher out of the backfield. Last year Dunbar’s season was cut short after suffering a serious knee injury tearing two ligaments and ending his season. The Bears clearly are not satisfied with their backfield of Jeremy Langford, Ka’Deem Carey, and Jacquizz Rodgers. That became evident when it was reported that the Bears offered a contract to restricted free agent CJ Anderson, but Anderson instead chose to sign with the Miami Dolphins (the offer was later matched and he will return to the Denver Broncos).
If Dunbar is brought in under a one-year, non-guaranteed league minimum contract, then it’s definitely worth rolling the dice and seeing what Dunbar can bring to the table. But if the Bears give him any kind of guaranteed deal above the league minimum, then it seems like a foolish contract to me. If Ryan Pace does sign him, you wouldn’t think Dunbar’s contract would be more than one season and it shouldn’t be for more then just potential depth at running back because of his ability to catch passes.
The Bears still have a major need at secondary, but other than that, this is about the time that you can expect Pace to start looking to sign veterans to one-year prove it deals. Dunbar fits that mold and it wouldn’t be too surprising if the Bears do sign him to a contract. Dunbar doesn’t have too much of a chance to make much of an impact on Sundays with the Bears in 2016, but Pace does have an eye for finding these guys off the so-called scrap heap and Dunbar might be this year’s Tracy Porter- you never know.
Bill Zimmerman is an editor and featured writer for FanSided‘s BearGogglesOn. Like his Facebook page or follow him on Twitter for more news and interaction.