Dion Sims Deadline Passes, Will be on Bears in 2018
Dion Sims will remain with the Chicago Bears.
Fans of the Chicago Bears that keep a close eye on the salary cap assumed that Dion Sims would not be on the team in 2018. Sims was part of a poor 2017 free agent class that only resulted in two productive players, Kendall Wright and Prince Amukamara. Of those two, it appears only Amukamara will return.
Sims could save the Bears around $6 million in cap space if he was cut by 4pm ET today. After that, $4 million of his salary would become guaranteed. The Bears could release Sims, along with Mike Glennon, Markus Wheaton, Quintin Demps, and Marcus Cooper to erase the bad free agent class and save a significant amount of cap money.
All the aforementioned names were released, but Sims remained on the roster, many speculated that perhaps the Bears were trying to trade Sims and if they couldn’t find a partner release him before the deadline. However, the deadline came, and went, and there was no news on Sims.
With 3 pm deadline passed and no movement for #Bears TE Dion Sims, $4 million of his $6 million base salary for 2018 is fully guaranteed.
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) March 16, 2018
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So Sims is a Bear in 2018. It seems a bit odd because clearly Adam Shaheen and Trey Burton will be ahead of Sims on the depth chart. Sims is an ample blocker, but Shaheen’s blocking improved greatly over time last season and there isn’t a reason to just keep Sims for his blocking, especially at $6 million.
New head coach Matt Nagy must see better ways to utilize Sims in the offense. It’s no secret that the Bears offense in 2017 was woeful and Sims struggled mightily, perhaps Nagy seems Sims’ issues as a result of the Bears woes, not a contributor to them.
Ryan Pace’s offseason has been commendable to this point. Keeping Sims on the roster is the first questionable move he has made, but Sims was a solid tight end for the Miami Dolphins and perhaps Pace and Nagy are confident that in a new offense, Sims can return to the far more productive player that he was in 2016.