It isn’t always about how many moves you make or how big the moves are. It is about the overall value you get. The Chicago Bears wanted to make sure they covered as many bases as possible when the off-season opened in March. GM Ryan Poles had to make sure of one thing, though. He could not overextend himself in terms of resources surrendered. It was his responsibility to be smart with the money and draft picks in his possession. Spend, yes, but spend wisely. It appears he has done that.
Austin Mock of The Athletic is an analytics expert. He ran a projection model for the 2024 season based on all the moves every team has made to this point. His findings were rather enlightening. His info says only one team had a better off-season than the Bears.
“The primary purpose of this model is to project the outcomes of games, but the foundation of the model is built on evaluating players. Using different advanced metrics from TruMedia, Pro Football Focus and other sources, I can assign a value to every player in the NFL. How can this value be interpreted? Think of it as how much a player would affect the point spread of the expected winning percentage of a single game…
…The Bears were the beneficiaries of the Los Angeles Chargers shedding cap space by acquiring Allen via trade. That’s one of the best moves of the offseason outside of the quarterback position and should make life easier on Caleb … whichever quarterback they take in April’s NFL Draft. Outside of the Allen trade, the Bears didn’t make a lot of headlines. However, adding tight end Gerald Everett, center Coleman Shelton and running back D’Andre Swift were all seen as positive additions by my model.”
That is high praise.
It is deserved. The key to any off-season is about gains and losses. Based on how things have played out, the Bears have gained much more than they’ve lost. Their only notable exits to this point including Justin Jones, Eddie Jackson, Cody Whitehair, Yannick Ngakoue, and D’Onta Foreman. In their places, Kevin Byard, Ryan Bates, D’Andre Swift, Gerald Everett, and Keenan Allen arrived. Not a bad trade-off.
The Chicago Bears aren’t even done yet.
They still have two top 10 picks in the upcoming draft to utilize. If Poles does his job well, there is a chance he could add two more genuine superstars to his roster. Presuming it gets anywhere close to that, people may view the 2024 off-season as a major turning point for the franchise. Everybody knows they’re taking a quarterback at #1 overall. If that hits, everything else will be immaterial. Smart money says the #9 pick will be a pass rusher, offensive tackle, or another wide receiver. They could also trade down to accumulate even more assets.
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It is hard not to feel like the Chicago Bears are in a great position. Their roster is mostly young, athletic, and hungry. The defense is back to respectability and the offense is finally accumulating playmakers for the first time in what feels like a decade. It feels like this team is maybe three players away from a legitimate playoff run. Hitting on the quarterback would make things happen even quicker. Of course, hope can be a double-edged sword. It’s all about proving it on the field.
