There are many varied opinions on how the Chicago Bears free agency plans should go. Some desire a bold move for a top name if possible. Others are hoping the Bears just secure their own players and hang back until after the first (and most expensive) wave of the market passes. Some would call this style “bargain shopping.”
That won’t sound appetizing to certain people. Probably because it sounds like the Bears will be settling for second rate players who won’t really move the needle where it needs to go. This is neither fair nor true. Time and again it’s been proven that teams who focus on depth tend to be rewarded late in seasons.
For another, GM Ryan Pace has already shown over the previous four offseason that he has a knack for finding quality talent cheap. Here is a list of his highlights starting back during his rookie year.
Sam Acho (OLB) – Signed April 1st, 2015 for $840,000
Acho has never been a stud pass rusher but his contributions to the team go far deeper. He had 32 tackles in reserve duties including a forced fumble that first year. He has demonstrated a big locker room presence and was a constant source of benefit on special teams.
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Tracy Porter (CB) – Signed on June 8th, 2015 for $870,000
Most people thought that Porter was done after a series of injury setbacks following his exit from New Orleans. He even arrived in Chicago with a hamstring issue. Still, he recovered to have some pretty good games that year, becoming instrumental in their giant upset of the Packers on Thanksgiving.
Bobby Massie (OT) – Signed on March 9th, 2016 for $18 million over three years
Keep in might the top right tackles in football are paid $9-11 million a year. The Bears secured Massie for $6 million. All things considered, they got two okay seasons from him in 2016 and 2017 and one really good season in 2018. The Lions paid Ricky Wagner $9.5 million per year and he allowed eight sacks last season. Massie allowed one.
Akiem Hicks (DE) – Signed on March 13th, 2016 for $10 million over two years
This has to easily be Pace’s greatest score to date. Hicks was coming off a pretty good year in New England in 2015 and the Patriots wanted to keep him. Instead the Bears managed to secure his services for just $5 million a year. In return he gave them 15 sacks over the course of that deal, transforming the makeup of their entire front seven.
Bradley Sowell (OT) – Signed on May 2nd, 2017 for $695,000
Scoring good starters on the cheap is great, but depth is just as important. Barely anybody knew who Bradley Sowell was when the Bears brought him in two years ago. They certainly do now. He’s been a valued utility piece who has logged snaps at both left tackle and left guard while also catching a big touchdown in the win over the Rams last year.
Aaron Lynch (EDGE) – Signed on March 15th, 2018 for $3 million
“Renting” players for a year is not an uncommon practice in the NFL. One might say the Bears had hoped to keep Aaron Lynch longer but that’s the way things go. Still, they got three sacks, six QB hits, and an interception out of him. That is fine production for just $3 million.
