Pre Free Agency Mock Offseason

[WindyCity]

2020 Salary Cap: 182.5 million

Roll Over: 7.5 million

Bears Starting 2020 Cap Space: 190 million

Bears Starting Cap Space: 1 million

 

Not Resigned 

QB Mitch Trubisky

WR Cordarelle Patterson

DE Roy Robertson-Harris

 

Extensions/Renegotiations [28 million saved]

LB Roquan Smith *5th year option exercised

CB Kyle Fuller [9 million saved]

Old Money: 1 year 23 million

New Money: 3 years 48 million/30 guaranteed

Total Deal: 4 years 71 million/30 guaranteed [11]

DE Akiem Hicks [6 million saved]

Old Money: 1 year 12 million

New Money: 3 years 36 million/24 guaranteed

Total Deal: 4 years 48 million/24 guaranteed [6]

 

OLB Khalil Mack [13 million saved]

-17 million base salary converted to bonus

Cap Space: 29 million

 

Released [21 million saved]

OT Bobbie Massie [June 1st] 8 million

CB Buster Skrine [June 1st] 5 million

TE Jimmy Graham 7 million

WR Javon Wims 1 million

Cap Space: 50 million

 

Re-Signings [35 million spent]

WR Allen Robinson [Franchise Tag] [18]

S Tashon Gipson 2 year 9 million/5.5 guaranteed [3.5]

K Cairos Santos 3 years 12 million/6 guaranteed [2]

P Pat O'Donnnel 2 years 5 million/3 guaranteed [1]

DE Brent Urban 2 years 8 million/5 guaranteed [3]

OT Germain Ifedi 2 years 5 million/3 guaranteed [1.5]

S Deandre Houston-Carson 2 years 4 million/2 guaranteed [1]

LS Patrick Scales 1 year 1 million/500k guaranteed [1]

DT John Jenkins 1 year 1.5 million [1.5]

ERFA [600k/per]

OG Alex Bars

LB James Vaughters

LB Josh Woods

TE/FB JP Holtz

Cap Room: 15 million

 

Free Agency [9.5 million spent]

TE Geoff Swaim [Ten] 1 year 1.5 million/500k guaranteed [1.5]

The Bears need a veteran TE to play the U and backup Kmet. Swaim is experienced and cheap.

QB Jacoby Brissett [Ind] 1 year 4 million/3 guaranteed [4]

The Bears need a veteran QB heading into the draft who is not named Nick Foles. Brissett is young and has starting experience. His ceiling is not super high, but he has more ability than Foles and gives you an option if the draft does not break you way.

LB Joe Thomas [Dallas] 2 years 5 million/2 guaranteed [2]

Trevathan looked old for most of last season. Woods and Iggy cannot play on defense. The Bears need a 3rd ILB who has some defensive experience and who you can put on the field when you have to take Trevathan off the field. Thomas is a little undersized, but can run and cover and is a good compliment to Trevathan at this point.

OT Zach Banner [Pittsburgh] 2 years 4 million/2 guaranteed [1]

Banner won the starting RT job for Pittsburgh and then tore his ACL and lost his job. Banner has the ability to play RT in the NFL and he brings exceptional size [6'8" 350lbs] to the Bears OL. This is a buy low and bring in another young player to compete move and adds options for the Bears in case the draft does not break their way.

C Ted Karras [Miami] 2 years 4 million/2 guaranteed [1]

I am good on Mustipher as the starting C, but the Bears need a veteran backup who can step in and play if Mustipher does not take the next step or get injured. Karras is a fringe starter, who has a bunch of career starts, and is from the Chicago area. The Bears can get a solid veteran and he can come home.

Cap Room: 5.5 million

Draft

1[1] Jacksonville Jaguars: QB Trevor Lawrence [Clemson]

1[2] NY Jets: QB Zach Wilson [BYU]

1[3] Carolina Panthers [Mia]: QB Justin Fields [Ohio St]

1[4] Atlanta Falcons: CB Caleb Farley [Virginia Tech]

1[5] Cincinnati Bengals: OT Penei Sewell [Oregon]

1[6] Philadelphia Eagles: WR J'mar Chase [LSU]

1[7] Detroit Lions: WR Jaylen Waddle [Alabama]

1[8] Miami Dolphins [Car]: TE Kyle Pitts [Florida]

1[9] Denver Broncos: LB Micah Parsons [Penn St]

1[10] Dallas Cowboys: CB Patrick Surtain [Alabama]

1[11] New York Giants: OT Rashawn Slater [Northwestern]

1[12] San Francisco 49ers: QB Trey Lance [NDSU]

*Trade: The Chicago Bears trade 1[20], 3[83], 3[2022] to the Los Angeles Chargers for 1[13] and a 5th round pick. This trade up is a poor value, but the Bears are super desperate and they need to land a QB that can be sold as the future. They must land one of the top 5 guys and Jones is the last one standing.

1[13] QB Mac Jones [Alabama] 6'3" 217lbs.

The Bears desperately need a QB and the trade market is always a tease and the free agents aren't good. There is not long term answer, unless they get one in the draft. Pace and Nagy need to sell fans and ownership on a future and a 1st round QB will do that. Jones is not the physically gifted QB in the draft. In fact he has some physical limitations. He is not an elite athlete, although he moves well in the pocket, he does not have a cannon arm, and he needs to be protected. What Jones does well is super intriguing for the Bears. He is super accurate on shorter YAC throws, he runs the RPO game really well, and he throws a beautifully timed deep ball. These are all areas that Mitch struggled. I get that he is not a fit in every system, but in this system he can easily be an Alex Smith type QB for this system. His willingness and accuracy on the deep ball should open up the offense and allow for better running the ball and underneath production. He needs to be protected and the OL that the Bears currently have is nowhere near good enough. #conviction

2[52] OT Dillon Radunz [North Dakota St] 6'6" 304lbs.

The interior OL was solid at the end of the season and should be better when James Daniels comes back. Daryl Williams is a significant upgrade over Massie and Ifedi is a nice swing backup on the right side. Leno isn't good enough. He isn't bad, but he is inconsistent and soft enough that I am not interested in a pure pocket passer standing behind him. The Bears need someone to come in, and ideally take, Leno's LT job. Radunz had a great Senior Bowl and showed that he had LT size, athletic tools, and ability against higher competition. He also looked good at LG and versatility is always a positive. Radunz can give them a long term LT that has much higher upside than Leno.

5. CB Bryan Mills [North Carolina Central] 6'1' 195lbs.

The Bears cannot afford a free agent CB, but they do need to continue to add depth and options at the spot. Mills has great size and athletic tools. His arms are verging on comically long and he has a ton of experience playing in press man coverage which the Bears often play across from Kyle Fuller. Mills needs a bunch of development coming from a small school, but he has ton of tools and he should not be needed right away and will get some time to develop.

5. TE Tre McKitty [Georgia] 6'5" 245lbs.

The Bears need a young and cheap U TE that they can pair long term with Kmet. They need someone who offers a little more gas in the passing game. McKiity started at Florida St and finished his career at Georgia. McKitty has the tools, but he has been chased his entire career by bad QB play. He is a solid blocker, has good size, and can stretch the field more vertically than Kmet.

6. RB Elijah Mitchell [Louisianna] 5'11" 226lbs.

The Bears need a backup RB that is cheap and could reasonably step into Montgomery's role if he is injured or needs a break. Mitchell has the size and physicality to fill that role, the fact that he is a solid receiver is just a bonus for the Bears. The Bears need to have a backup option that is not 5'6" 180lbs coming off of an ACL tear.

6. S Damar Hamlin [Pitt] 6' 205lbs.

A smart player and a 4 year starter and team leader for Pitt. The Bears need some cheap safety depth and someone who might develop at the SS spot. Hamlin is a solid tackler is aware in coverage which makes up for average athletic tools and size. At a minimum he should be a solid special teams player and a depth defender.

6. WR Cornell Powell [Clemson] 6' 205lbs.

The Bears need some WR depth and Powell has a ton of interesting traits. Powell was a slow developer in college so there may still be upside that has not been realized. He has speed, solid size, and has had success on the outside. He would add some needed speed to the roster.

7. DE Khyiris Tonga [BYU] 6'4" 326lbs.

I think Mario Edwards will get more than the Bears can afford and they will bring back the more economical Brent Urban. That being said they will need some more bodies and depth along the line. Tonga can play DE or NT in this system. He has the length and power the Bears seem to favor on the DL./

Depth Chart

QB: Brissett/Jones, Foles

RB: Montgomery, Cohen, Mitchell, Pierce

WR: Robinson, Mooney, Miller, Ridley, Powell

TE: Kmet, Swaim, McKitty, Holtz

LT: Leno

LG: Whithair

😄 Mustipher, Karras

RG: Daniels, Bars

RT: Radnuz/Banner/Ifedi

 

RE: Nichols, Tonga

NT: Goldman, Jenkins

LE: Hicks, Urban

OLB: Quinn, Gipson

ILB: Smith, Iggy

ILB: Trevathan, Thomas, Woods

OLB: Mack, Vaughters

CB: Fuller, Johnson, Vildor, Shelley, Mills

FS: Jackson, Houston-Carson

SS: Gipson, Lucas, Hamlin

[Ty21]

22 minutes ago, WindyCity said:

😄 Mustipher, Karras

😂

 

I wouldn’t hate this off-season, especially if we can successfully open up that much cap space. I would be fine with rolling with Jones and Foles tho, as Brissett isn’t going to do much more than Foles and that money can go elsewhere. I would also like to see Miller leave and us attain another WR. If Mooney is our 2, so be it. I don’t think he is a 2, but outside of Robinson our WR corps is very 2009-esque.

[beardown3231]

I'd be pretty surprised if McKitty fell that far

2.5 a year for O'Donnell is too much and so is 4.5 a year for Gipsonx

Banner is a really nice young player. I doubt he can be had for only 2/year

[topwop1]

For once I like one of your mocks hahah

The only move I don't really like is Brissett.  I think he is a waste of money and space if the goal is to target a QB in a trade up and with Foles basically untradeable.

[Sugashane]

14 hours ago, beardown3231 said:

I'd be pretty surprised if McKitty fell that far

2.5 a year for O'Donnell is too much and so is 4.5 a year for Gipsonx

Banner is a really nice young player. I doubt he can be had for only 2/year

Agreed. Switching Gibson and Banners deals should work though.

I'm done with Pat, why not just let a pair of UFA fight for the spot or even sign a vet to compete with them? Aim for better than mediocre at least. 

Dislike Brissett but like the aggressive move for Jones. 

[AZBearsFan]

Get him just to run behind him. Holy DK Jr. 

[Heinz D.]

I'd be fine if they could come out of the draft with Jones being the answer at QB. As Windy points out, he'd be a good fit for the offense. 

Drafting an O lineman in the second would be cool. But we need more than one of them in this upcoming draft. And if they draft a corner before the sixth, I'll probably scream until my lungs bleed. 🤮

[beardown3231]

3 minutes ago, Heinz D. said:

I'd be fine if they could come out of the draft with Jones being the answer at QB. As Windy points out, he'd be a good fit for the offense. 

Drafting an O lineman in the second would be cool. But we need more than one of them in this upcoming draft. And if they draft a corner before the sixth, I'll probably scream until my lungs bleed. 🤮

I wouldn't think a statue would be a good fit in this offense at QB

[AZBearsFan]

7 hours ago, beardown3231 said:

I wouldn't think a statue would be a good fit in this offense at QB

He’s not a statue. He’s not a runner by any stretch, but he’s not Drew Bledsoe back there. 

[41st ward Chicagoian]

This would probably save everyone jobs.  I would be happy with the Mac Jones trade.  The upside to this is you are not selling out the future.  You swap picks and trade some mid rounders.  Pace will be able to build around Mac Jones in 22 and beyond.  I have to say I like this better the Russell Wilson mega trade.  That will cost multiple first rounders and hamstring the teams ability to build around Russ.    

I get the rationale behind the Briskett signing.  But it seem redundant when you have already have Foles.  If you swing and miss entirely in the draft and FA for a QB.  You could probably still have an Alex Smith to sign after the draft.