The franchise tag deadline has come and gone. We saw the three biggest names outside of Allen Robinson taken off the board. Chris Godwin was tagged by the Buccaneers. Davante Adams was tagged by the Packers. Mike Williams signed a three-year, $60 million dollar contract giving him $20 million per year in AAV.
We just saw the Chicago Bears trade Khalil Mack to the Chargers for a second-round pick, a 2023 sixth-round pick, and an agreement that they’d take on the rest of Khalil Mack’s contract. The contract portion is a key factor in why this trade is better than originally thought. We all would have hoped for a better-round pick next year, but this is the type of outcome you get with mass contracts like these for aging players who have not been 100% for a couple of seasons.
The Chicago Bears need to grab one decent free agent WR and focus on the draft
Amari Cooper was just traded for essentially a fifth-round pick for similar reasons. Personally, I am on the side of, if you are going to clear $60-plus million in salary cap for 2023 and beyond, you need to pay some veterans. Amari Cooper would have been worth a fifth-round pick in my opinion, but I’m also not going to come knocking on Halas Hall asking for Ryan Poles to resign. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt to see how he builds this team in his vision.
As free agency technically starts later today, it is important to understand that the Chicago Bears are probably not going to be too active. I think they will wait to see how a few chips fall before making any moves. The team has already been linked to a few pending free agents and who knows what is true or what is being pushed by agents this time of year. What we do know though is that this team needs help at wide receiver and will be somewhat active. It’s just a matter of what caliber of talent they choose to pursue.