The 2022 roster will start very thin and a rebuild is looking like a pretty good idea now that Ryan Pace's plan to go all in with Matt Nagy and Mitchell Trubisky has failed horribly, the COVID era hasn't helped him one bit to sustain a healthy salary cap and stable roster, this tipped the balance against him making the organization look elsewhere for a new start at GM as well. I was hoping they gave Pace the position Ted Phillips has just to have someone more with football knowledge in the building but didn't happen, family ties might just be too strong in Halas Hall.
From the coaches that have been popping out lately for interviews I really don't have a favorite, but the ones that resonate to me as interesting are Brian Flores, Brian Daboll and Matt Eberflus. Flores just because of what I saw he did with the Dolphins, the players responded to him and seemed they never quit on him and had a good run with the team but what worries me most with Flores is who will he bring with him being that he is still new to the league compared to other candidates. Daboll is all about what he accomplished with Josh Allen which is what would be expected of him to accomplish with Fields if he is hired, would that be enough reason to make him the HC? Eberflus has very good credentials and experience by coaching on almost every position on the defense side of the ball, the recent results he was able to accomplish with the Colts are incredible, if I had to roll with someone that hasn't been a HC it would be this guy, the only thing is if he can manage to bring help with him to coach up Fields. I'm really not against Doug Pederson being a candidate, he had a good record with the Eagles and has a Super Bowl to show off, the fact that he has been out of a job for a year is somewhat bothersome. Dan Quinn has experience as well and has a trip to the Super Bowl but he is known for building a good defensive unit with the Falcons and had a very good QB with Matt Ryan and still found ways to choke on many games. Bryon Leftwich and Nathaniel Hackett are too green for my taste, of the two I'm more interested in Leftwich but its too similar to hiring Nagy again. Todd Bowles and Leslie Frazier are too washed up for me but that does mean they have the more knowledge of personnel in the NFL but feels like hiring John Fox all over again. Josh McDaniels isn't considered to be interviewed by the Bears, at least not yet, I hope they do, even with his bad reputation of leaving the Colts to dry when they gave him the HC job some years back, he is one interesting candidate to see if he can help Fields grow.
For GM, Morocco Brown and Ed Dodds from the Colts are my favorites for now, they seem to be high energy guys with a good roster building record. One new resent candidate the Bears are going to interview is Omar Khan from the Steelers, like Baltimore there aren't many franchises that are consistently good because of the loaded rosters they get year after year. And no, I don't care if none of the GMs listed have never drafted a hall of fame QB, because (aside from the frikin Packers, Cowboys and 49ers, the Colts don't count) who has stumbled on back to back franchise QBs? That is a miracle in itself.
I played with a cap calculator and simulated the Bears roster knowing very little of what was I doing or if it made sense, but it made me have a superficial understanding of how complicated its going to be to fill next seasons roster. What gives me hope is that many teams are on a similar boat so it should not be impossible, its just a matter of understanding how the pieces need to be moved to make you get more pieces. So next up is what I think should happen this offseason.
The Bears need bodies to fill the roster and it will start by re-signing almost every FA they have this year and everybody from the 2021 practice squad. Extending Roquan Smith. Terminating contracts of Jimmy Graham, Nick Foles, Danny Trevethan and Jeremy Attaochu to make cap room. I considered restructuring contracts of Eddie Goldman, Khalil Mack and/or Robert Quinn but I preferred to stick with things as they are this year and make the pull from the 2023, more bad moves and next season will look as bad a situation as this one.
Other than RB, OLB and maybe DL, all the positions are heavily lacking personnel, I listed the players signed and placed some Free Agent players that interest me,
QB - Justin Fields
FA - Marcus Mariota, Jacoby Brissett
The new coach will make his choice of a veteran backup QB, its safer to have some experience behind Fields but the limited cap doesn't make it easy, going next season with two rookie QBs isn't the best of ideas but could be an option. I only hope they get someone that resembles Field's strengths.
RB - David Montgomery, Khalil Herbert, Tarik Cohen
FA - Justin Jackson, Chase Edmonds, D'Ernest Johnson, Marlon Mack, Rashaad Penny, Sony Michel, Derrick Gore.
I like this RBs group, if Tarik Cohen returns it has a bit of everything, but with Cohen's injury status and a contract that is very steep right now, putting him in the trade block isn't a bad idea for the Bears future. I would even consider placing David Montgomery for trade just because he might have more value right now and could help the Bears have more future picks to stock up, Khalil Herbert is capable of taking the starting spot or he can be paired with someone from the FA's available, still Montgomery's presences as a leader recently may make him more valuable to the team.
WR - Darnell Mooney
FA - Cedrick Wilson, Braxton Berrios, Russell Gage, Christian Kirk, Chris Godwin, Mike Williams, Michael Gallup, Tre'Quan Smith.
This group is in desperate need of help, I would bring back Jakeem Grant and Marquis Goodwin on one year deals to fill in some spots. From FA, I would bring in Cedrick Wilson from Dallas and Russell Gage from Atlanta. Chris Godwin is too expensive and coming off an injury. If Michael Gallup comes cheap it would be another option instead of Wilson. A possible cheaper option than Gage would be Braxton Berrios. There is still room to use a high draft pick for a promising WR than can contribute from day one.
TE - Cole Kmet
FA - Mo Allie-Cox, Tyler Conklin, David Njoku, O.J. Howard
I wouldn't consider bringing a TE from FA, keep the cash to bring back Jesse James and Jesper Horsted on cheaper deals.
OL - Teven Jenkins, Cody Whitehair, Larry Borom
FA - Brian Allen, Bradley Bozeman, Tyler Larsen, Dan Feeney, Quinton Spain, Laken Tomlinson, Alex Cappa, Dennis Kelly, Lucas Patrick
The Oline needs James Daniels back to pair with Jenkins and Borom, competition is needed to push Cody Whitehair to play better or to get benched. Sam Mustipher is a cheap re-sign but should not start next season, I was considering signing a veteran Center but it would probably be too expensive and the guys available I would think will want long term deals, maybe a one year veteran like Tyler Larsen would be a better option but probably wont want to play for peanut, so instead I went with Mustipher as a backup plan and bringing in Lucas Patrick from Green bay who is capable of playing Center but is a guard that could compete against Whitehair, this way a Center would be one of my bigger priorities at draft day along with a WR, but resent opinions from draft geeks have commented that the Center class from this year isn't very deep, so maybe its better to sign one in FA if available.
DL - Angelo Blackson, Eddie Goldman, Khyris Tonga, Mario Edwards Jr.
FA - B.J. Hill, Austin Johnson
As much as I would want for Akiem Hicks to be re-signed, I think its time to thank him for his great play and let him go to save some cap for someone serviceable, Angelo Blackson has been playing pretty good and hopefully can help not miss Hicks too much. I was opting to sign a FA to fill in for Bilail Nichols spot but preferred to stick with him instead, he is as much capable of good play than anyone of the FA available this offseason. Eddie Goldman's contract is an eye catcher, it makes the option of getting him on the trade block an option but the need for bodies on the DL is a big issue.
OLB - Khalil Mack, Trevis Gipson, Sam Kamara, Robert Quinn.
FA - Arden Key, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Rasheem Green, Ogbonnia Okoronkwo
Signing FA EDGE's is pricy, here is a wild idea, with Gipson, Kamara and bringing back Charles Snowden to make OLB decently full at the position, I would tempt the idea of placing Mack and Quinn on the trade block and see what offers fall. Giving up on both these players would significantly decrease the defensive power of this unit but also would kick the door open to a rebuild and I don't see it as a bad thing, it would give the team direction to build the offense RIGHT NOW, surround Fields with talent and build the defense from scratch, see what young guys can be building blocks and start from there.
ILB - Caleb Johnson, Roquan Smith
FA - Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Reggie Ragland
Instead of FA to fill in the spot of Trevathan, I would bring back Alec Ogletree and Joel Iyiegbuniwe. Its never not a good idea to draft an athletic specimen LB and see if he can learn to play the position at a professional level.
CB - Jaylon Johnson, Kindle Vildor, Duke Shelley, Thomas Graham Jr.
FA -Anthony Averett, Dante Jackson, Desmond King
This spot is filled with young talent and that is a good thing when you don't have huge expectations for a defense but the problem is that the present Bears organization doesn't know yet if they have an outside CB to pair with Johnson. Graham played good but too little, Vildor showed better play as a NB, bringing back Artie Burns is not a terrible idea, he played more as an outside CB more than the previous two mentioned and did decent, I also considered bringing Xavier Crawford to fill the position with a bit more experience. Still this is a position that needs all the help it can get, either by FA or preferably via the draft.
S - Eddie Jackson
FA - Keanu Neal, Jaquiski Tartt
Jackson sadly would be someone more to consider putting in the trade block because of his value and is further enough into veteran status, although maybe pairing him with a better SS would be an easier transition. Bringing back DeAndre Houston-Carson and Deon Bush for a pair of years could fill the void somewhat until better talent is found, Teez Tabor can come too.
So with the moves I made without trading anyone, I got 64 players to the roster by adding the players still signed (25 players), re-signing every PS player from 2021 (17 players), extending Smith, re-signing 19 players from the 2021 roster (8 offense, 9 defense and 2 ST) and signing 3 FAs (3 offense). The Bears have 5 draft picks, giving picks away is a big no-no, trading down for more picks is a good option. Adding some 10 players from the UDFA pool gives the Bears roster 79 players to start their 2022 season, not bad but I think less than 85 is not ideal and this is where the magic cap moves from these GMs come to play and able to sign some more FAs. Not re-signing Allen Robinson, Akiem Hicks and possibly Germian Ifedi, Christian Jones and Tashaun Gipson could get the Bears a chance to have at least one compensatory pick for 2023 if they only sign the three guys I mentioned form FA but its probably not going to happen, more guys will need to be signed and will cancel any chance of getting more picks which is a bummer. This is something that needs to change, the Bears organization needs to be better and think more in stocking for the future and find ways on how to expand their chances of getting more talent now more than ever when they have big promise at a position they have never had real talent at and is the prime position of all the sport, Fields needs the help to get that chance, to be the guy for them and see how far they can get with him.
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