Following a disappointing 2019 season, the Bears have an important offseason ahead of them where they have several issues they need to address.
Given Chicago’s struggles on offense, a lot of those concerns fall on the offensive side of the football, where Matt Nagy has already been at work adding four new offensive minds to the coaching staff.
But with free agency and the NFL Draft on the horizon, general manager Ryan Pace will have his turn to address concerns at several positions including quarterback, tight end, offensive line and edge rusher.
Here are four decisions the Bears will need to make this offseason:
1. Will Bears pick up Mitchell Trubisky’s fifth-year option?
The Bears have an important decision to make with Mitchell Trubisky this season, but it starts in the offseason where they need to make the decision whether or not to pick up his fifth-year option. In three seasons, Trubisky hasn’t shown that he’s worthy of Chicago picking up his option, which would equate to a roughly $24 million salary.
While Ryan Pace has publicly stood by Trubisky, that doesn’t mean he’s willing to pay him that kind of money. If the Bears don’t pick up the option, they’re basically signaling that they’ve given up on Trubisky. But if they do, there’s still a way to get out of it, given as it’s only guaranteed for injury. We’ll see just how much faith Pace has in Trubisky to turn things around in his fourth season, prior to the May deadline.
Regardless, the Bears are going to address the quarterback situation this offseason. They’re going to bring in a veteran to challenge Trubisky, and they could also turn to the NFL Draft for a young prospect.
2. Will Bears stick with or cut ties with Leonard Floyd?
Looking at the other end of the spectrum in regards to the fifth-year option, the Bears have a decision to make regarding the future of outside linebacker Leonard Floyd. Chicago chose to pick up Floyd’s option last year, and he’s due to make $13.2 million in 2020.
While the Bears remain high on him, Floyd hasn’t lived up to expectations. Floyd has shown that he can get after the quarterback, as evidenced by his career-high 12 quarterback hits in 2019. But Floyd has struggled converting those into sacks. After starting the season with two sacks against the Packers, Floyd managed just one sack in the final 15 games.
The Bears have to ask themselves if that’s the kind of production they’re good with at $13.2 million — or if they’d rather cut their losses and go after a pass rusher in the NFL Draft.
3. Which in-house free agents do Bears re-sign?
While the Bears figure to be active in free agency, they have some in-house free agents they need to make some decisions on. Obviously they can’t re-sign everyone — given their lack of salary cap room. So it becomes a question of which players do the Bears believe are the most important to re-sign, as well as who can they afford.
The Bears will have three inside linebackers set to hit the open free agent market in Nick Kwiatkoski, Danny Trevathan and Kevin Pierre-Louis, and Chicago figures to prioritize either Kwiatkoski or Trevathan. The only problem is, Kwiatkoski’s impressive 2019 season figures to draw some interest from other teams that might be willing to pay him more than Chicago can afford.
Some other notable in-house free agents include safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, defensive tackle Nick Williams, defensive back/special teams ace Sherrick McManis and outside linebacker Aaron Lynch. While the Bears likely won’t be able to afford to re-sign Clinton-Dix, they could re-sign free agent Deon Bush as a potential replacement.
4. Will Bears completely overhaul the tight end position?
One of the biggest questions for Chicago this offseason looms at the tight end position, where the Bears will have a lot to address. The lack of production in 2019 — where tight ends combined for 46 receptions, 416 yards and one touchdown — is unacceptable.
At the forefront of the disappointment are starters Trey Burton and Adam Shaheen, both of which were ineffective prior to landing on injured reserve. With the Bears expected to add tight ends to the roster, what becomes of Burton and Shaheen in 2020?
While it’s more likely that the Bears would cut Shaheen rather than Burton (who would be a $7.5 million dead cap hit), Chicago is still expected to make a push this offseason to better that position group. The Bears will likely target a veteran in free agency and draft a young prospect.
