Why P.J. Walker is a terrific signing for the Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears did not sign the big-name tackle that fans will be talking about, but they did make a solid move last night. The team signed P.J. Walker to a two-year deal, to likely be the teams backup.

The Chicago Bears were smart to sign P.J. Walker in free agency

With Trevor Siemian on a deal that could be justified as a third-string player in this market, the Chicago Bears are likely done with quarterback now. Siemian can help in the room and be the third string, but Walker makes a lot of sense as the backup.

The reason the team could not continue with Siemian as the backup was that he and Justin Fields ran completely different offenses. At first, the Chicago Bears wanted Fields to run an offense designed for Siemian.

By about week seven, they changed the playbook to the skill set of their own signal caller and did not force him into a role. The issue is that when Fields got injured, they had to go back to the Siemian playbook. Siemian cannot run anything like the Justin Fields offense, he is not a mobile threat.

What hurts more is that when Fields returned, the offense started to get really clunky. It is asking a lot for the rest of the offense to learn a new offense halfway through the year, scrap it for two weeks, then pick it right back up on the fly. You could see the group sputter down the stretch.

Now, the team has P.J. Walker. Walker has started seven NFL games, and the Panthers went 4-3. He did what was needed to keep his team in games, and it is not like the Panthers were a loaded roster, so the winning roster is somewhat impressive.

Walker has 11 interceptions, but five of them came in his rookie season. Last season, he actually showed growth in completion rate, touchdown rate, and interception rate.

There is the obvious note that he was just with D.J. Moore, and the two made magic on a hail mary once. It does not hurt that if Justin Fields went down, the Chicago Bears now know they have someone who can run the same offense, feed D.J. Moore, and at least put the team in a position to stay competitive with a chance to win.

The Chicago Bears needed someone like Walker, and they nailed the addition.