As the dust settles on the whirlwind that is NFL free agency, the landscape of professional football has changed dramatically. Every team was making signings, trades, cuts, and looking forward towards the draft that happens April 26-28. It is one of the most exciting and scary times of the offseason as your favorite team may or may not look completely different by the regular season.
Diving into the Chicago Bears moves show they are going to be one of the most talked about team of the offseason, they have the first pick of the NFL draft. The Bears are coming off a 7-10 season and are aiming to finish up the rebuild that has been happening for the past couple of years. They got the number one pick by trading with the Carolina Panthers a year ago as Chicago traded their number one pick from last year to get star wide receiver DJ Moore in the trade to get some offensive power and help third year quarterback Justin Fields.
The Panthers finished with the worst record in the league and the team with the worst record in the league gets the number one pick. Though Chicago holds the rights to the pick so that gives the Bears the right to go first. This gives them the option to get potentially the best prospect in the draft, quarterback Caleb Williams out of USC. With the opportunity, Chicago traded Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a conditional sixth round pick that can change into a fourth round pick depending on how many snaps Fields plays for the Steelers. This created a stir in Chicago.
The offseason was guaranteed to have QB controversy for the Bears. The majority of Bears fans wanted Fields to stay in Chicago and stood behind him. This even though there was the possibility of taking Caleb Williams with the number one pick and set their future up with him. The trade with the Steelers was deemed disrespectful by a majority of the NFL fan base as Fields was just traded for “a bag of chips.”
One die-hard Bears fan Tyler Deblick offered his opinion on Justin Fields being traded. “I loved watching Justin play and it does make sense to trade him and get Caleb,” Deblick said. “Justin did not really prove anything in Chicago and the potential Caleb has could be great. I will miss Justin for sure and I hope he succeeds elsewhere.”
Some other fans are quoting it as the worst move the Chicago Bears have ever made. Those Bears fans have reasons to be upset as the franchise, though about 100 years old, has not had a franchise or a superstar quarterback for decades and fans are dying for one. They see Williams as just another quarterback who will die out. We shall see how the draft plays out and plays for Chicago.
Outside of the quarterback controversy, the Bears continue to look to build upon the entire team. They recently re-signed cornerback Jaylen Johnson to a 4-year, $76 million deal to stay in the Windy City. Jaylen proved himself to be a top corner in the game shutting down top wide receivers in the league.
A trade that Chicago made during this dramatic offseason was a trade for former Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen for a fourth round pick of this year’s draft. Allen is coming off one of the best years of his career and boosts the wider receiver core more for the Chicago Bears.
Another Bears fan, Evan Bendis, saw this trade as an absolute win. “Keenan is one of my favorite wide outs to watch other than DJ Moore,” Bendis said. “Now having them both on the same team gives me so much hope for the new season up ahead. The Bears are going to be watchable again!”
Allen is on an expiring contract with one more year left on his deal he initially signed with the Chargers. The value that Chicago got for him was very well worth it.
The potential the Bears have for the next season looks very promising but is still very questionable. We still don’t know who the quarterback is going to be, this team is still very unproven, and they have to compete with the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions in the NFC North who both made the playoffs last year. It is going to be a very entertaining and competitive year for football. We are so close yet so far. Tune in for the NFL draft happening April 26-28. Happy offseason Bears fans!
