The Chicago Bears waiver wire plans are a mystery at this point. Their 53-man roster came in at the deadline on Sunday and held a number of surprises. Chief among them? Their odd decision to carry only four outside linebackers. James Vaughters and Kylie Fitts were both cuts. That left Khalil Mack, Leonard Floyd, Aaron Lynch, and Isaiah Irving as their only options on the edge. This is a dangerous situation.
Keep in mind that three of those four names suffered debilitating injuries last year. Mack missed two games with an ankle problem. Floyd spent the first half of 2018 with a broken hand. Lynch suffered an elbow injury that knocked out for the final month of the season and the playoff game against Philadelphia. It’s proof that health isn’t exactly a stable thing with this group. If injuries should strike again, their depth could be horrifically exposed. Irving only has once sack in his NFL career.
Throw in the fact that defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano has traditionally carried no fewer than five outside linebackers into a regular season, it leads one to at least ponder the idea they might be planning to add somebody from the outside. Perhaps off waivers. If that’s the case, there is one name that sticks out above all the others that became available in the past 48 hours.
Chicago Bears waiver wire focus must hinge on Noah Spence
Spence was easily one of the biggest surprise cuts of 2019. The former 2nd round pick had not done much for Tampa Bay the past two years. However, this wasn’t entirely his fault. His rookie season in 2016 was a strong one. He finished with 5.5 sacks and 40 total pressures on the quarterback. It felt like he had a bright future with the team. Then for whatever reason, he started getting fewer and fewer opportunities.
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Part of the reason for this may have been his bad fit for their scheme. Tampa Bay had always run a 4-3 alignment on defense. Spence, being just 6’2 and 250 lbs would be considered significantly undersized for a defensive end in that system. He’d have fit far better as a 3-4 outside linebacker. The Buccaneers soon realized those limitations and began looking elsewhere for their edge help.
Spence would be a far better fit in Chicago’s system. Chuck Pagano has utilized shorter pass rushers many times in the past including Elvis Dumervil and Robert Mathis. Both of whom are two inches shorter than Spence. This could be the move that solves the Bears’ depth crisis.
