So far in the Chicago Bears market watch, the offseason trends have gone as expected. They began by shoring up their offensive line. After that, they parted ways with tight end Dion Sims. The Bears then made the move many expected since the team’s loss in the Wild Card and announced Cody Parkey would not be returning next season. The former two moves may be pointing to a plan of attack as the rest of the offseason unfolds.
The #Bears have decided to release K Cody Parkey at the start of the league year, sources say. A fresh start is welcomed by both parties, and the Pro Bowler will likely find work quickly. He’s still due $3.5M guaranteed on his 2019 contract.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 22, 2019
Chicago Bears Off-Season Market: Analyzing the Trends
Blocker Locked Up
When the Bears agreed to terms with tackle Bobby Massie on a new contract it signaled two things. One, that they felt the line was not the issue in 2018’s subpar rushing attack. The other thing the move hints at is the team not likely to dramatically alter their offensive approach. They will continue to skew more toward the pass and utilize screens and dump-offs to supplement the run.
Massie’s deal is for four years, but it is really only prohibitive for the first two years. In other words, the Bears could still look to find an eventual replacement after the 2020 season. That player would likely come via the draft as opposed to free agency this year, however. Chicago currently has no picks until the third round of this year’s draft so any tackle prospects would likely be developmental.
In the wake of Massie’s new deal, the Bears could look to rework guard Kyle Long‘s contract to free up some additional money. The three-time Pro Bowler has not played a full season since 2015 after signing a four-year extension prior to the 2016 season. When healthy he is the Bears best lineman and brings an aspect of nastiness that shows, especially in the run game.
Secondary Guessing
Chicago has about $12.8 million in cap space after Massie’s contract and waiving Sims. That money is likely going towards a safety in free agency. Reports surfaced that Adrian Amos could be reuniting with former Bears defensive boss Vic Fangio with the Denver Broncos. It was also reported that Chicago wants Amos, a Pro Football Focus darling, back. But he previously lost his starting role to Eddie Jackson.
Bryce Callahan is also likely to depart from Chicago after a stellar season that was cut short by injury after 13 games. He is a smaller defender who plays bigger than his size in the slot. He has also been injury-prone to this point in his career amd has never played in more games than he did this season. Add in the going rate for top nickel defenders and it is not far fetched to think Chicago looks for a slot corner in the draft.
The Bears struggles across the middle last year have been documented. Some of the issues can be attributed to scheme, but there was still room for improvement. Moving to upgrade the safety and nickel positions would show the coaching staff feels the same way. The safety market is better than the one for nickel corners headlined by Landon Collins and HaHa Clinton-Dix. Neither will be cheap but both could be good fits as playmakers in new DC Chuck Pagano’s scheme.
Little to a Lot
There are a lot of questions still for this young, up and coming team. They have to be looking to avoid being 2019’s version of last year’s Jacksonville Jaguars. Can they improve the ground attack with the same personnel only better health? Will they move on from one of their homegrown standouts? That all remains to be seen. There is a lot of intrigue to this offseason despite how little cap room and draft capital the Bears are working with this time around.
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
