Bears Nation endured the road to a 5-12 season, they cringed through an embarrassing latter half of the season, and they covered their eyes to avoid seeing multiple highly-paid underperformers. And don’t even get us started about the rotating cast of coaches.
Sounds like a team in need of a makeover.
But ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler seems to think that everything is kinda-sorta okay in the Windy City. For that matter, he’s hyped about the future, noting, “Despite last season’s struggles, the Bears have balanced adequate roster help and a healthy cap outlook well. They are in a position to spend once again to add improvements for new coach Ben Johnson.”
That said, Fowler is well aware things aren’t all roses and puppy dogs over at Halas Hall, pointing to a unit that we all know needs a fix: The offensive line. To his credit, he offered some advice:
“Yes, free agent guard Trey Smith is ideal. But he likely will reset the guard market, and the Chiefs could attempt to keep him. Other options include Zack Martin, Will Fries, and Drew Dalman.”
Fowler even drew somewhat of a roadmap to free agent nirvana.
“The Bears have several veterans whose contracts offer cap space if released, such as DeMarcus Walker ($5.2 million), Gerald Everett ($5.5 million) and Kevin Byard III ($7 million).”
Great stuff. Hopefully Bears GM Ryan Poles read the piece and took the solid advice to heart.