The Chicago Bears 2020 free agent class started out with a lot of promise. Guys like Tashaun Gipson, Mario Edwards Jr., and Barkevious Mingo have been pleasant surprises. However, the team needed its big-money purchases to perform up to their dollar amount and thus far that just hasn’t been the case for GM Ryan Pace.
After nine weeks of NFL action, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN decided to speak with several front office people around the league. He asked a simple two-part question. What were the best and worst moves of the 2020 offseason? For most of the article the Bears weren’t mentioned. In fact, the Vikings got a bigger shoutout thanks to their ill-advised trade for Yannick Ngakoue.
However, they failed to escape getting hit.
It was in the honorable mentions section where their biggest blunder of 2020 was laid at their feet.
“Bears sign Jimmy Graham while targeting a tight end (Cole Kmet) high in the draft: Was $9 million in guarantees really necessary for a 33-year-old coming off a 38-catch season?”
Even back in March when the deal happened, people were stunned. How could Pace give that much money to a guy coming off the two worst seasons of his career? It was bad business in every sense of the word. Yet the Bears remained defiant, believing the former All-Pro still had some gas in the tank. Things started off well. Graham had four touchdowns in his first five games.
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After that? It seems the veteran has lost a lot of steam. He looks slower and only has one TD in the past four games. To say nothing of his…ahem…”blocking” efforts.
What happened to Jimmy Graham. Has he quit? pic.twitter.com/52NJ7GKR2R
— Bears Barroom (@BearsBarroom) November 8, 2020
Is Graham the biggest Chicago Bears misfire?
That is actually up for debate. While it’s true they probably paid way too much for the veteran tight end, they at least set themselves up to get out of that deal in 2021. The same can’t be said for Robert Quinn. Remember they signed the pass rusher to a five-year deal worth $70 million. It made some sense. They needed a quality #2 guy across from Khalil Mack. Quinn had 11.5 sacks in 2019.
There was a problem though. He was turning 30-years old and has a history of health issues. Giving such players big contracts like that can be dangerous because there’s no telling when the decline happens. Sure enough, it appears Quinn has lost a significant step this season. After recording a sack on his first snap as a Bear, he’s failed to get another in every one he’s played since.
This is looking like a mistake that will haunt them for years.
Unlike Graham, the Chicago Bears aren’t in a position to dumb Quinn next offseason if they wish. Were they to cut him, it would incur an additional $9.2 million salary cap hit and $23.9 million in dead money. Only trading him would alleviate some of the burdens and it’s fair to wonder if any team will trade for a soon-to-be 31-year old pass rusher with a bloated contract coming off his worst season in years.
So yeah. They’re stuck with him. The bottom line is both deals were bad. They were clearly made out of desperation because Pace had failed on multiple occasions to find the team solid options at either tight end or outside linebacker in the draft. When that happens, free agency gets involved, and building through free agency is a losing proposition in the long run.
