The Chicago Bears land a top offensive tackle in mock offseason moves

Here is a look at how the Chicago Bears can handle free agency in 2022

The best news here is that the Chicago Bears do not need to be in the hunt for a new quarterback — at least not a starting one. Andy Dalton will no longer be on the roster and I just cut Nick Foles to save $3 million. With that $3 million, the team needs to use no more than two-thirds of it on a replacement backup quarterback. Nick Foles would be a better option here and some may think the team should keep him rather than save, but I’ll sign a guy like Geno Smith instead.

Smith is earning $1.2 million this season and I’d feel good if the Bears could sign a player like him to a one or two-year deal worth a max of $1.7 million against the cap. I’ll say they hypothetically spend $1.7 million and that leaves them $52 million to fill out the rest of the positions.

On offense, the key positions of need will be offensive line and wide receiver. With David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert at running back, that position is set outside of some last-minute additions for the veteran minimum. I won’t even count these against the cap at this point because they might not even meet the top-51 status. In fact, a few UDFA running backs on the roster and practice squad could work too.

Wide receiver will be tough though. The team only has Darnell Mooney under contract at this point. I’m going to assume they retain Dazz Newsome since he was a sixth-round draft pick in 2021 and is currently on the practice squad. I also think that Rodney Adams, this year’s preseason darling, will stick around. Neither of these two is guaranteed to crack the final 53 though.

In my mock draft, I have the team drafting a wide receiver in the second round. There were three options that were on the board at the time and all three are projected to be starting-caliber receivers. This gives the Bears at least two starting receivers heading into the 2022 season, but that’s obviously not enough.