These ten players are the core of the Chicago Bears roster
The Chicago Bears are at a cross roads going from a 12-win season to an average year without a playoff appearance. They need to evaluate what direction the roster needs to go in.
When identifying the core players of the roster, these are the players that you are planning on having beyond two years. You are making roster decisions with the idea in mind that you can trust them at their position, and do not need to look into replacing them, whether it be in the near or immediate future.
With that in mind, these ten players are the most likely to be on the Bears roster, and in the plans moving forward, even after the 2021 season.
With that in mind, we will address the elephant in the room with the Honorable mention players.
Akiem Hicks and Cordarelle Patterson were the two closest players to making this list. For Hicks, it is simple. He is 30 years old, he is coming off of a serious injury, and he is a free agent at the end of 2021. The Bears will no doubt rely on him next season, but the 2021 draft may see them taking a shot at a player who can replace Hicks after that season. By that time Hicks will be closing in on age 33. The Bears may want to keep him for another year or two, but he will not be relied on in the same regard moving forward.
Patterson is a free agent after 2020, but the Bears are likely to extend him. He is a core special teamer and has found a role in Chicago. There is a good chance he will be sticking around, but without a major impact on the offense, he is not quite a core player, although it can be argued.
10. Kyle Fuller
Fuller was the closest to seeing Patterson or Hicks make the list over him. The Bears are truly going to have this type of tough decision between Hicks and Fuller in a couple of years as well. Fuller is set to be a free agent after 2021, the same year as Hicks. However, Fuller is two years younger and has been healthier in recent times. Fuller is still at the top of his game.
If the Bears are to look long term, they are likely to include Fuller in their long term plans.
9. David Montgomery
David Montgomery did not have a strong rookie year. He flashed and showed potential as an NFL player that the Bears can trust moving forward. He does a good job of making defenders miss, has power and shows solid vision to hit holes.
The Bears traded up for Montgomery, signifying a trust in him. This is a player that the team has invested in and is going to trust to man their backfield moving forward.
Of course, they are not going to solely rely on his talents. They split the backfield with him and Tarik Cohen, and there will always need to be a lightning punch to his thunder.
On top of that, we have learned that Montgomery is going to need a strong line to give him lanes. He is a good NFL running back, but is not quite Adrian Peterson in his prime.
So, while Montgomery is clearly a core player who the Bears are going to keep moving forward, they know that he is a player they need to build around more than rely on over that time. Still, they do not need to spend serious assets on running back thanks to Montgomery.
8. James Daniels
The Bears drafted Daniels in the second round knowing that he was a player that they would be betting on in the long term. He was one of the youngest players in the draft when they took him, and while he profiles as one of the more athletic and talented centers in the NFL, he needed to put on core strength to become an NFL player.
So, the Chicago Bears went slow with him. They held him behind Eric Kush and waited a full season to play him at center. Unfortunately, the shift did not work out well for him. Communication issues mounted and the team had to put Cody Whitehair back at center.
Still, whether it is center or guard, Daniels is still apart of the long term plans. His development took a bump in the road, but they are going to rely on him to bounce back.
The next two seasons would have to be a major disappointment before the team looks to move on, and it would be hard to see them moving on at any time in the next two years.
7. Eddie Goldman
While the core of the roster updates yearly and will be much different at this time next year than today, one thing is constant. Eddie Goldman has been a core piece since his rookie season. That did not change. While other teams saw disappointment in their 2019 campaign, Goldman continued to thrive.
Goldman does not provide elite sack numbers or stuffs behind the line of scrimmage. However, year in and year out he does his job and he does it well. The Bears gave him a big extension that goes through the 2022 season.
There is no reason to think that he will not perform up to the entirety of his deal, and beyond that, there is a good chance that the Bears will look to retain him moving forward. He will not come at substantial money and has the chance to be a player who retires a Chicago Bear.
6. Anthony Miller
Anthony Miller climbed his way from being a frustrating talent to a core player in the matter of a hot end to his season. Miller always flashed potential, but for whatever reason, he could not get on the same page as Mitchell Trubisky.
To close out his year, he flashed serious upside and was on pace for over 1,000 yards when looking at his last six games. Like Daniels, Miller will have to be retained after the 2021 season. However, he has shown enough flash as a consistent slot receiver that there is a great chance that he will be with the team for the foreseeable future.
5. Roquan Smith
Roquan Smith had a bumpy 2019. However, it still has the arrow pointed in the right direction heading towards 2020. Smith missed the Vikings game due to a personal issue and had a two or three-game slump in the middle of the season that had fans questioning what was going on.
However, he bounced back to play his football towards the end of the season. Unfortunately, Smith finished the year on the IR after pectoral surgery.
Smith should make a full recovery and is not expected to miss time in 2020. After his strong finish and his great rookie season, the expectation should be that a breakout is still in store. The team is still committed to Smith as a top ten pick and will look to extend him beyond his fifth-year option that comes in 2022.
While the Bears will decide who starts next to Smith, they have Smith locked into the starting lineup from 2022 and beyond.
4. Cody Whitehair
The Chicago Bears are committed to Whitehair through the 2023 season. He is clearly a core piece that they plan to build around. The question now only becomes what position will he play.
There is no doubt that the Bears offense was better after the team made the change from guard to center for Whitehair. Still, Whitehair is not a natural center. His snapping has remained an issue throughout the backend of the year.
His move to center and offenses improvement had more to say about Daniels than Whitehair. In a perfect world, the team would have a solid center that would complement the cerebral and athletic Whitehair.
Still, the question has nothing to do with the talent or long term status of Whitehair. The team needs him, and he is still their best lineman. The question is at which position?
3. Allen Robinson
Robinson is going to be a free agent at the end of the 2020 season. However, there is a good chance that the Chicago Bears attempt to extend him this offseason. Robinson will only be 27 in 2020 and is coming off of one of his best seasons. He could have been even better with consistent play around him.
The Bears would be foolish to let him enter 2020 with a chance to improve him stock for an open market. They should look to tie him down for the next three or four years this offseason before their backs are up against the wall.
No player improved on the Bears offense other than him. With Miller in the mix as a potential long term slot option, the Bears are an outside deep threat away from having a complete receiver arsenal. Taylor Gabriel is likely to be let go, and while Javon Wims and Riley Ridley will have chances to fill that void, the Bears can feel good knowing they have a core top receiver to build around.
2. Eddie Jackson
Another player that the Bears will try to extend this offseason is Eddie Jackson. Jackson excelled in 2018, and while his production is down in 2019, that may be the chance the Bears need to get him extended for the longterm.
Jackson was still excellent in 2019. However, with Chuck Pagano, he played different roles and was closer to the line of scrimmage at times. He played more man coverage than he did center field.
He also was avoided after his reputation grew last season. That is not to excuse the lack of production, the Bears will want 2018 type play from him moving forward. However, even more than Roquan Smith, this team needs to invest in Jackson as their long term option in the back end of the defense.
Jackson will be a player that they build around, will be a player who is on the roster beyond 2023 if they can find the right terms this offseason.
1. Khalil Mack
With the questions surrounding Mitch Trubisky, there is no player who this franchise is invested in more than Mack. The team is going to need Mack to provide more than he did in 2019. They are going to need him to live up to more than his contract.
Mack is signed through the 2023 season. He got most of his salary guaranteed and will be with the team that long.
That will be through his age 33 season which is essentially the extent of his NFL prime.
Mack’s 8.5 sacks in 2019 is the lowest mark of his career since his rookie season. Even he would tell you that for the money that he is making, he did not live up to his name. Those are the expectations that come with being the top building block of a franchise.
Mack was still consistent, and with an offseason to look in the mirror, the Bears can decide a plan of attack across from him and around him on the line. One thing is for sure, though. We will be seeing Mack with the Bears for the longterm.