Free agency roundtable: Who to sign, who to avoid

The new league year starts in a few days so our crew put together a splash signing, an under-the-radar signing and a player to avoid.

We’re just days away from the start of the new league year, when the official start of free agency begins.

The league’s legal negotiating window opens this weekend, and there will be loads of rumors and news floating around.

So with that in mind, we ask our staff to give us three names for the Chicago Bears in free agency:

1) One big splash signing the Bears should make

2) One “under the radar” FA the Bears should sign

3) One “whatever you do, Ryan Poles, NOT this guy!” FA likely to be signed by somebody

Here’s what our crew said.

Mason West

1) Christian Wilkins – Get your dominant pass-rushing DL

2) Connor Williams – With the trade for Ryan Bates, you can let Williams come along slowly for a decent price after his ACL injury.

3) Gabe Davis – All flash, no substance. Too much money for not a lot of production.

Josh Sunderbruch

1) Connor Williams – Bates is a nice depth, but the Bears need a guy who can hold down the center position. The truth of the matter is any of the big-named centers would be an option here, but Williams makes the most sense with the trade for Bates.

2) Kendrick Bourne – Right now Chicago has exactly four wide receivers under contract, including Nsimba Webster and Tyler Scott—who combine for under 200 career yards. Most teams carry six, so even if they draft an elite weapon, they’re still understaffed. Bourne isn’t flashy, but he should be affordable and he moves the chains. He has a nearly 56% career success rate, and even in New England he managed first downs on 37 percent of targets.

3). Josh Jacobs – Any running back not named Eric Dickerson tends to fall off a cliff in production after leading the league in touches. In 2022, Jacobs led the league in touches. In 2023, he fell off a cliff. Maybe he’ll be the exception to the rule, but he’d be a costly experiment when the Bears could better spend that money other places.

ECD

1) Danielle Hunter – The signs have been pointing towards the Bears making another sizeable signing at DE to pair with Montez Sweat. They’ve eyeballed Hunter since August, and despite turning 30 soon, he’s got plenty left in the tank. Get that pass rush to a dominant level with just your front four.

2) Alexander Mattison – It seems like the Bears are in the market for a veteran running back. Mattison played well in an extended role with the Vikings last season, and he’d round out the group well without needing to break the bank.

3) Connor Williams – The temptation for signing him is real considering how good he is. However, he also won’t likely pass a physical until October due to the timing of his injury. I don’t think the Bears should wait so long and hope a player can return to form after a significant injury.

Ken Mitchell

1) Jonathan Greenard – What’s not to like about Greenard? High motor, production (12.5 sacks last year), high pass-rush win rate, great quickness off the ball, the perfect partner for Sweat in the pass-rush.

2) Mitch Morse – His age (32) means he’s not the long-term answer at center but he’s instantly a starter in Chicago and a perfect two-year-bridge type of a guy to allow for the development of a center from this year’s draft.

3) CJ Gardner-Johnson – a man I have absolutely ZERO interest in rooting for. Yes, he can play… but I don’t want him on my team…

Sam Householder

1) Christian Wilkins – Get the engine that drives the defense.

2) Gus Edwards – Less miles than the big names on the market and has a career 4.9 yards per carry average.

3) Jamal Adams – The word “cooked” comes to mind.

Taylor Doll

1) Danielle Hunter- I am here to lock up our pass rush, we already saw the production increase with the addition of Montez Sweat and now this could take the line up a whole other level.

2) Jamal Agnew – A return specialist is something I would like to see Bears address after several issues the last two seasons on that front. In addition, Agnew can be used in several other ways on the offense. He is coming off an injury so I think it could be a manageable deal.

3) Calvin Ridley – I think the best thing for Ridley would be to stay in Jax after many issues of learning the playbook, route running and drops last season. I am not confident learning another new offense will be good for anybody in the equation especially if it’s a young QB. I also think you will have to majorly overpay him because of the WR room.

Chime in with who you think the Bears should sign (or not sign) in free agency.