3. Chicago Bears will have to address defensive line
The Chicago Bears defensive line room is going to look a lot different. That is rather disappointing considering the line was built up strong with Ryan Pace. Still, it appears a lot of that group is hitting the end of the road with the franchise.
Akiem Hicks wished the fans goodbye in his last game with the team. Reports were that he was ready to get out of town, and while a new regime may change things, he also may be looking to cash in, which is not what Chicago should do at his age and injury status.
Bilal Nichols is a free agent and may a stronger market than some fans realize. If that is the case it will be hard to retain him. Beyond that, they have to find out if Eddie Goldman even wants to be here, but even still they may have to move on considering his cap charge.
The team still has Mario Edwards and Angelo Blackson, but plenty more will need to be added. The Bears could wait until the draft, but this is going to take away from premium positions. The smartest bet would be to find two more guys similar to Edwards and Blackson and rely on a rotation upfront until you get more assets to fix the issue. They will not have a big name, so they are best off with a bigger group of average names.
Even if they do draft a defensive lineman, that will still just be their third or fourth guy. They are going to have to sign two more defensive linemen at a minimum. Maybe they will not be the names that fans know, but multiple defensive linemen will have a new team with the Chicago Bears soon.