The Chicago Bears 2017 free agent class has already passed into franchise lore. Since free agency became a thing back in the early 1990s, it might go down as the worst crop of “talent” the team has ever assembled. It seems like every notable name they acquired was either a colossal failure, a big disappointment or did nothing to alter the status quo. Just go through the list of names for an idea.
Mike Glennon, hailed as the veteran starter who could help the team win until Mitch Trubisky was ready, lasted four games and turned it over eight times. Markus Wheaton missed five games with various injuries and made three total catches. Quintin Demps lasted all of three games before breaking his arm. Dion Sims caught just 15 passes for 180 yards and also had three drops.
Only Kendall Wright and Prince Amukamara stopped the group from being a total letdown. Yet even they didn’t play well enough to stop people from lambasting GM Ryan Pace for whiffing so badly. This is what has led to fears about 2018 free agency. What happens if he strikes out for the second-straight year?
Except failures like this aren’t always as simple as they seem.
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Bears 2017 free agent class was result of uncertainty at head coach
John Mullin of CSN Chicago brought up a vital point that went ignored throughout the 2017 off-season. Yes, Pace was in charge of the free agent plan and made most of the acquisitions. The problem is he was handcuffed from the start due to the situation surrounding head coach John Fox.
“Because of the unsettled quarterback situation – the Bears were working toward Mike Glennon and cutting Jay Cutler two weeks later – and concerns about a possible lame-duck situation for Fox, free agents and their agents were willing to look at the Bears but only if the Bears would pony up excessive guaranteed dollars. The worry any time a coach is heading into a tipping-point year is that if things go badly, the coach and staff are gone, and the resulting changes will alter the job situation of that particular veteran player.
So the likes of cornerbacks A.J. Bouye or Stephon Gilmore opted for less total money from Jacksonville and New England, respectively, because the Bears weren’t offering higher guarantees to compensate for the uncertainty.”
One of the forgotten aspects of free agency is that it’s not just the teams scouting players. The players scout the teams too. One can bet most of the big names Chicago pursued last year were well-informed about the Bears’ situation. Players are human beings. They don’t like constant change, just a normal person wouldn’t. The idea that Fox could be fired, creating uncertainty for the future? That’s no fun to think about.
Gilmore went to New England where Bill Belichick isn’t going anywhere. Bouye went to Jacksonville where Doug Marrone had just been officially made the replacement to Gus Bradley. Those teams offered far more stability than the Bears could.
That is what makes 2018 different
The Bears no longer have that issue. Matt Nagy is the new head coach. He’s not going anywhere in the immediate future. Not only that but they also have a clear direction at quarterback with Mitch Trubisky. Their two biggest roadblocks to luring in top free agents have been removed. This will drastically increase the negotiating position for Pace.
