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The Five Biggest Mistakes Bears Could Make

Bondman

Bears general manager Ryan Poles and coach Matt Eberflus spent two full seasons and this offseason putting themselves in position to make a playoff run in the third year of a rebuild.

Rebuilds that require more than three years before achieving success in the NFL are rare these days, so the Bears are reaching the tipping point.

They are an example of a franchise that gutted everything and started practically from the foundation. Eberflus has often referred to the first year and even the Year 2 offseason as the foundation for laying the groundwork.

None of this should matter. It’s a time in the NFL where everything happens fast and there’s no time for people who can’t do the job in three years.

As anyone who has ever built a house can attest, foundations crack and this can be a huge headache. This team that is believed to have playoff potential could go down a completely wrong path if they make some wrong moves in the coming months.

These are the worst possible things the Bears could do as they head into the training camp break.

5. Sign Caleb Williams before Jayden Daniels signs

Although the signings are more or less scheduled, the first pick in the draft should arrive with the best possible contract.

As long as the No. 2 pick, Daniels, is unsigned, there’s a chance Washington is doing a little more for its rookie quarterback than what the No. 1 pick is getting.

The Bears spent February, March and most of April trying to build goodwill toward Caleb Williams and his “people” involved in this signing process. He doesn’t have an agent per se.

The Bears should continue down this path and simply wait until he signs the second pick so Williams can be 100% sure he will receive his just reward for going No. 1 overall.

The next player they should sign is Rome Odunze.

Odunze was the ninth pick and shouldn’t be affected much by the fact that the eighth pick is unsigned and the 10th pick is unsigned, because they were both quarterbacks: Michael Penix Jr. and JJ McCarthy. Since Wednesday, There were 12 unsigned first-round picks, including four quarterbacks. Wide receivers Marvin Harrison Jr. and Malik Nabers have already signed and were selected ahead of Odunze. There’s no reason why the third receiver selected isn’t already signed.

4. Trade running back Khalil Herbert

This does not mean that they are reflecting on it, but it does come up from time to time. Professional soccer network As recently as after the draft it was suggested that Dallas should trade for Herbert. Other business tip stories appear from time to time under Herbert’s name. These are unsourced stories and are just speculation.

This move would be a tremendous mistake by the Bears at this point.

The reason for such a suggestion is that Herbert is considered expendable by some because he is in the final year of his contract, plays a position where there always seems to be a surplus of low-cost talent and the Bears have two other running backs who could be incoming.

Last year should have shown the Poles that he needs three running backs capable of starting more than he needs another mid-round pick.

Herbert had nine starts, D’Onta Foreman eight, and Roschon Johnson would have had more than 81 carries as the third running back, except Justin Fields provided his second-most carries and took away rushing attempts from other players.

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The Bears haven’t started a running back in every game since Jordan Howard did so in 2017. Last year they thought they had enough running back totals when they had three running backs and in Week 5 at Washington they had to use fullback Khari Blasingame to bring the ball and ice the game because everyone else was injured.

The signing of D’Andre Swift replaced Foreman with a speed threat and pass catcher out of the backfield, but in four seasons Swift never played in every game and until last year had never missed fewer than three games in a season. .

Trade Herbert and the Bears are preparing to get burned for no reason.

3. Let Odunze return punts

This is not a decision for the Poles, it is up to coach Matt Eberflus and special teams coordinator Richard Hightower. In the words of Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, it should not be possible.

There’s a player who just signed with the Jets who should tell the Bears how dumb this idea is. That’s Tarik Cohen.

One second in 2019, Cohen is making a fair catch and the next second he has a horrible knee injury and his career is down the drain. He later injured it again while rehabbing.

Sure, Odunze runs the risk of injury on every play like any player, but at least let him take a chance doing what he was drafted to do and that’s being a wide receiver.

“Yes, absolutely, absolutely,” Odunze said Wednesday when asked about punt returns. “You know, I had my fair share of punt returns in college. I practiced it every day. I didn’t get a lot of reps in real games. I would have loved to have more of those, but I think it’s just another opportunity to shine and add value to the team.” team. I feel like I do it at a high level.”

Spoken like a true newbie.

Odunze punted three times in college games, which should communicate to the Bears how they should approach this thinking. Odunze isn’t even among the three fastest receivers the Bears have, so using him to match punts in practices or games is of questionable value anyway.

The top 10 picks are not chosen to field punts. That’s what Day 3 guys and undrafted free agents do in order to justify being on the team.

Gale Sayers did it, of course. That was almost 60 years ago. Even then, he had more punt returns in his rookie year than in the rest of his career combined. Devin Hester did it. But he was ridiculous. And he didn’t really help much as a receiver.

It is too dangerous a job to risk a player selected so early.

The only first-round picks who returned punts last year were Jabrill Peppers for the Giants and Kadarius Toney for the Chiefs. They didn’t do it regularly. Peppers was a seventh-year player on his third team who didn’t live up to first-round status at safety with just six interceptions in his career. He only averaged 8.3 yards per return. Toney is on his second team and has returned just 17 in his three-year career. He has also averaged just 7.0 yards per return.

Oh, the Falcons actually returned Bijan Robinson for a return last year. As the team the Bears were playing when Cohen got hurt, they should realize how stupid this is.

Every one of the NFC’s regular punt returners last year was a Day 3 draft pick or undrafted free agent and there’s a reason for that.

2. Extend Keenan Allen’s contract now

This is a mistake unless the terms are too good for the Bears to resist. In this wide receiver market, they won’t be.

Allen is a 32-year-old receiver to get him they spent only a fourth-round pick. He hasn’t played in cold weather, he’s with a new team for the first time and the Bears have another wide receiver who is more valuable and counts for much less against the salary cap this year. That would be DJ Moore, who counts just $16.05 million against the Bears’ salary cap.

Is this really what you want to do? Extend a receiver who already makes $7 million more than your best receiver when your best receiver is due an extension by the end of 2025? Moore is 5 years younger and is part of the Bears’ future. It’s possible that a move like this could create bad feelings and, at best, set up Moore for an even bigger pay raise after 2025. He’ll get it anyway, so why give one to the other receiver veteran now?

If Allen doesn’t want to finish the year or prove he has enough left to make an impact on this team for a few more years, then he’s out. After all, they drafted Odunze to be his No. 2, if not No. 1, and he definitely wasn’t selected ninth overall as a punt returner.

1. Make Teven Jenkins wait for a contract extension

Jenkins should be the first Bears player to get a contract extension.

Even if you don’t like the fact that he was only able to start 24 of a possible 51 games in three years due to injuries, when he did play he was extremely effective.

Beyond that, the guard position is a complete disaster right now for the Bears. Starter Nate Davis was injured and when he was healthy he didn’t block effectively. They are using the other guard, Ryan Bates, as a competitor for the starting center job. Beyond those three players, there is a tremendous drop in quality.

After this season, it looks like they’ll need to find another starting right guard unless something changes drastically, so they better make sure they don’t need two guards.

Better to have Jenkins playing and happy to be a part of the Bears’ future. If you only have one reliable guard protecting your franchise quarterback, it might be a good idea to pay him.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

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