Expect Chicago Bears to be less active in free agency
Chicago Bears General Manager Ryan Pace spoke to reporters at the combine this week. He gave some insight into how he hopes the team will operate moving forward
A General Manager’s press conference at the NFL combine is essentially the State of the Union for the team at that point in time. You get an insight into what this team is thinking and what direction they will head in recently.
A criticism of Ryan Pace in the past has been poor free agent decisions. Akiem Hicks and Danny Trevathan are big hits, but the list of misses far exceeds it. Pace spoke on the dichotomy of drafting and free agency, and he is hoping that now as the team has its foundation set, they can continue to build through the draft without relying on free agency as much.
Pace mentioned that free agency is risky. He said that the nature of it is hard because these are players that another team has likely given up on. “If you can build well through the draft you do not need free agency as much,” said Pace. “The less u can dabble in free agency the better.”
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Not starting over, building upon
Pace also spoke about the direction of the team. He was asked if the team is still rebuilding due to the mass departure of veteran players. The oldest Bear is now 29-year old Kye Long. However, Pace spun the idea of starting over and said that he thinks it is more of the idea that he thinks they can build upon the base that has been set.
The veterans did their part. They held down spots and set the tone for the rookies and second-year players of the 2016 draft class. However, now the Bears have a base of talent. Mitchell Trubisky, Leonard Floyd, Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman, Eddie Jackson, Danny Trevathan, Kyle Long, Jordan Howard.
This is their young core and instead of throwing a variety of older names who may click as much, they would rather take on lower contracts with younger, higher upside bets in the draft. One more strong draft class could really put this team in a position to have a young nucleus, and then be one or two small tinkers away. The team will make moves, they are already reportedly in on Albert Wilson. However, they will not be throwing money around in the same capacity as the past two seasons. Do not expect the Bears to be nearly as active in free agency this year as the year before.