2022 Free Agents; Keep, Let Walk, or Ponder Over?

[soulman]

Free Agents to Walk, Keep or Ponder

Originally posted on FanNation Bear Digest
By Gene Chamberlain  |  Last updated 11/13/21

https://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/free_agents_to_walk_keep_or_ponder/s1_16634_36427697?utm_source=mb&utm_medium=email&mb_edition=20211114&mb_loc=right_h

 

The decision on regime change at Halas Hall always has multiple sides to it.

Normal surface reasons include: 1) is a team mired hopeless on offense for the past three years; or 2) have they badly misread when they should have been playing their brilliant, young quarterback, Justin Fields; or 3) is the defense underperforming or just old or both?

There is also the economic aspect of it. In the NFL, economics means the salary cap, and the Bears currently are situated well for a purge if they choose this route.

There are a few other individual factors, as well. Players like Khalil Mack and Eddie Jackson eat up big chunks of the cap and Mack continues to prove with both his production and even his absence that he is worth every penny.

Eddie Jackson and also veteran Danny Trevathan have not been doing this and both are still under contract next year. Having players with big salaries who are less productive and are becoming free agents is the ideal situation for a purge. 

The Bears would need to make personnel decisions on those two and it would be a very tough one with Jackson because of outstanding play from 2017-19.

Still, there are plenty of players whose contracts are up and the Bears in a rebuild/purge situation could simply let many of these veterans walk and use some of the money they'd owe to find someone else in either free agency or the draft.

There are 24 Bears currently slated to become unrestricted free agents next season and seven are starters. A few others are starting specialists. Here is one view of who best to keep and who best to let walk considering the team's like state of affairs.

The good thing about this list is it can still change greatly based on eight more games and what players could show.

Turning walkers into keepers is more fun than the other way around because it means a team is winning.

Trending Keepers

TE Jesse James

A third tight end this year, he could become the second tight end next year and has already developed an excellent rapport with Fields. More receptions and playing time are warranted.

P Pat O'Donnell

The only reason to jettison him would be to bring in a much cheaper, young punter. But it's not easy finding someone who has been so effective and grown at his trade.

James Daniels

His play hasn't been elite and he's committed too many penalties for a contract year, but it's been solid enough. Unless they're planning to convert Borom or Jenkins to right guard, there's no reason to be cheap with him. They are paying practically nothing at the moment for their offensive line as it is. The better play might actually be to go into free agency and find a better option than Daniels, a proven guard from the league's upper echelon. They've been trying to get by on the cheap with the offensive line for too long. The only one they've paid is Cody Whitehair. Now there's someone worth protecting back there so getting some real help blocking is necessary.

Deon Bush

They found two nice backup safeties in Bush and DeAndre Houston-Carson, so there's no need to dump one. What they need is a starter ahead of them.

Christian Jones

"Cheese" is a useful, versatile backup who is worth retaining at backup salary.

Joel Iyiegbuniwe

As long as they're retaining him at a special teams player and backup player's salary, it's fine to have him. Iggy has been one of the more dependable coverage men, although their punt coverage team is the league's worst.

Patrick Scales

This no longer an automatic. He has been saved on a few poor snaps by Pat O'Donnell's quick grab and placement. It happened on the go-ahead extra point Monday night. It's a situation at this position where you bring a player to camp who can compete and try to take the job from him because Scales is extremely well paid for a player who just snaps the ball on kicks.

DeAndre Houston-Carson

The question is why do they have to keep giving him one-year contracts? He's obviously capable of being a backup safety and is their best overall special teams player. Pay the man already. He's the last defensive player to intercept a pass, but it's been so long ago now few remember it.

Jakeem Grant

A tough call. He'd be worth bringing back at a lower price. If Tarik Cohen is able to return from the ACL tear next year, there's no need for Grant as a punt returner. and Khalil Herbert was doing a solid job as kick returner before being elevated to backup running back. Then again, they could just bring him back to return kicks and punts and take the pressure off Cohen.

 

Trending Walkers

Allen Robinson

With the way Robinson takes care of his body and has mastered both route running and leverage, he could be very productive three or four more years. However, the Bears should be trying to get younger and faster at receiver to complement a young playmaker at quarterback, and they should be trying to reduce payroll to bring in promising younger players.

Nick Foles

It's a year too late for this but monetary constraints dictated it.

Andy Dalton

It's doubtful he would want to return after the was "promised" the starting job and then lost it after two starts due to an injury.

Jimmy Graham

A useful player still in the red zone if they recognize when he's open but definitely too old to be part of the future at 35.

Germain Ifedi

He received a $5 million deal for this year and has not played much. Call it reward for the nice season he gave them in 2020 and everything is square as he moves on to be a backup elsewhere.

Tashaun Gipson

Being a media favorite doesn't make him a productive enough player for retention at his age. He's playing a position difficult to handle for players in their 30s. They've needed another young safety who can start for three years.

Marquise Goodwin

Goodwin's play has been borderline keeper. It's not because he's made a great contribution, but he has started to show up more with big plays. What is surprising is the team-first attitude he has shown as a blocker who is extremely undersized. Still, you need to see much more in terms of big-play catches downfield to retain him. He might be a player worth returning for camp competition.

Damiere Byrd

A far less productive version of Goodwin. It's hard to believe Rodney Adams couldn't have been pulled up from the practice squad to perform at a higher level.

Elijah Wilkinson

Backup tackles who also can play guard are valuable but to be a swing tackle you need to be able to block on both sides of the line. Wilkinson seems to have a strong preference for the right side. They should make an attempt to have backup help at tackle who plays both sides well.

Damien Williams

COVID-19 and injuries have given Khalil Herbert the chance to replace him this year. Long term, his position is only a temp job until Cohen returns.

Alec Ogletree

They need to get younger and faster at inside linebacker.

Artie Burns

He hasn't really played and there's a need to bring in young cornerbacks to challenge the young cornerbacks they already have playing who aren't getting the job done.

 

Flip a Coin

Akiem Hicks

This could easily be turned back to the keeper category if Hicks doesn't find a big market, but any contending team with cap space to add a veteran for one year would want him. The Bears have seen little in high-level production from him this year because of injuries but when he has been available he looked like the old Hicks.

Jason Peters

If he's willing to put off retirement and cost is low enough, the Bears could keep him on as the swing tackle if they're planning on Teven Jenkins as the starting left tackle next year. He's playing so well, he might even convince them he could start another year and let Jenkins either break in slowly or move to right tackle with Larry Borom moving to right guard.

Bilal Nichols

Before this season, Nichols seemed headed for a big pay day. He's potentially better than Roy Robertson-Harris, who got a $23 million deal from Jacksonville. But Nichols also has been plagued by minor injuries, a toe and a knee. They seem to have affected his performance. He hasn't stepped up. Bringing him back depends on the cash and whether they decide it's time to let go of Akiem Hicks.

 

Twitter: BearDigest@onFanNation

This article first appeared on Bear Digest and was syndicated with permission.

[soulman]

This one should create some lively debate.  We have over 20 holes to fill to reach 53 players on the 2022 roster and only 5 draft picks to fill them.

Who do we keep.  Who do we let walk.  Who needs to audition over the next 8 games for an offer next spring?  Have at it gang. 

[Sugashane]

9 hours ago, soulman said:

James Daniels

His play hasn't been elite and he's committed too many penalties for a contract year, but it's been solid enough. Unless they're planning to convert Borom or Jenkins to right guard, there's no reason to be cheap with him.

Pretty sure not being elite (not even being that good being more accurate) is plenty of reason to be cheap with him. I'm nor saying to throw a vet min deal at him as a lowball offer but he's not even close to irreplaceable. I think Ifedi can do as well if not better than we've seen from Daniels all year and I don't want to throw a considerable deal and hope Daniels becomes worth it. 

Peters will be 40 and I'd be more confident in him for 2022. 

[dll2000]

Nobody on this list really matters except Hicks, Daniels and Nichols - their question is how much?

Nick Foles and Dalton are trending walkers?  LOL

I could care less about Punters and snappers.  Dime a dozen

I'd take Peters back he has had some horrendous games, but has been arguably Bears best football player overall.

I'd keep Jesse James.   He can't cost anything.   Why wouldn't you?

I'd take Ifedi on a cheap deal too.  He has been injured this year and looked good before that.

Whitehair and Daniels are overrated to Bears fans IMO.   Not bad, but they aren't star players by any means.

 

 

 

 

 

[DABEARSLCF04]

To Soon. I try to enjoy the season on the go before I look to next year. Thats what the offseason is for.

[soulman]

I'm still in the move Whitehair back to OC and Daniels to LG mode. Daniels has the ability to pull and/or take on LBs at the second level.  IMHO he's more out of place playing at RG but he may still be the best run blocker we have.  Whitehair has similar ability and can pass block far better than Mustipher.

If you want more heavy lifting out of the right side play Ifedi or Bars at RG then between Borom and Jenkins sort out who plays which OT spot.  In either case you're getting your bigger stronger run blockers on the right side of the OL.  So IMHO both Daniels (24) and Ifedi (27) are worth bringing back.  Both should be in their prime years.

Jenkins will begin to practice this week so we may get a look at him this year, or maybe not.  It all depends on how he responds.  If Peters can be coaxed into agreeing another one year deal I'd bring him back too.  He's a perfect player/coach for Borom and Ifedi.  IMHO the OL has some decent talent playing in a poor scheme.

Of course none of this precludes looking to upgrade OG or OC in FA or drafting another OL in the first two rounds but IMHO we have far too many other holes to fill to go hog wild rebuilding the interior of the OL.  We need more from those guys we have now and we need to stop playing musical chairs with them.  JMHO

[abstract_thought]

If there’s any position where the Bears need change, it’s OL. Bears need to start fresh there. That includes Mustipher, Wilkinson, Peters, and Ifedi. Even Whitehair should be on the cutting block. There’s really no reason to keep them.

Daniels is pretty underwhelming but he’s not outright bad and he’s still pretty young. If he doesn’t ask for much, I could see the Bears retaining him.

Sure, you have other needs. But you have a young QB now and a good OL is the foundation for him. It’s time to start building the roster the way good franchises do it.

 

[Madmike90]

This is pretty much so impossible without knowing what type of scheme we are going to be running especially with players like Daniels and Nichols...

With Daniels if we want to be an outside zone team then I would sped around $6 million a year to bring him back but no more than than...if we want to go with more of a power based scheme then I let him walk and find a more powerful interior linemen...

Nichols needs to be in an aggressive attaching 3-4 scheme...I think in that type of scheme he could be a Jay Ratliff type when he was at his bet in Dallas...if we want to go to a two gap kind of scheme then again I probably don't spend a lot of money on him and see him more as a nickel rusher.

[soulman]

I just go on record as saying both need a new deal.  It would be tough to replace either one before 2022.