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The perfect ten-part Chicago Bears free agency plan

By Bill Zimmerman

Chicago Bears (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Chicago Bears (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – JANUARY 06: Cody Parkey #1 of the Chicago Bears reacts after missing a field goal attempt in the final moments of their 15 to 16 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at Soldier Field on January 06, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – JANUARY 06: Cody Parkey #1 of the Chicago Bears reacts after missing a field goal attempt in the final moments of their 15 to 16 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at Soldier Field on January 06, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

1. Cut Cody Parkey, Dion Sims

The first thing that Ryan Pace needs to do is start clearing out some of the dead weight. That weight starts with Dion Sims. Sims has 1 year left on his contract with no guaranteed money that will pay him $6 million.

Sims was phased out as the season went on and by mid-November he was placed on IR. Sims was kept on the roster last season because of the uncertainty of Adam Shaheen entering year two. When Shaheen came back from injury, while he still didn’t show a ton in the passing game, his run blocking looked very good and the Bears should be able to rely on him as their blocking tight end next year as his pass catching continues to develop. Sims no longer has any value.

Parkey is a bit trickier because he’s guaranteed $3.5 million next year and cutting him will cost an additional $1 million. That means it will cost Chicago $4.5 million to have Parkey not kick for them in 2019. But the bottom line is that he just can’t return.

Parkey isn’t a terrible kicker, but he had a terrible season and after missing that kick in the playoffs, there simply isn’t a way that the city of Chicago will forgive him. If he returned, the environment would be too hostile, it just doesn’t make sense for him, and honestly, the Bears are trying to win a Super Bowl and they need to upgrade the position.

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