Chicago Bears Additions So Far in Free Agency:

NFL Free Agency is well underway, and the Bears started it off with a bang. Ryan Poles was once again the first GM to officially sign a player, making D’Andre Swift his first signing. He has since followed that up with Kevin Byard and Gerald Everett. I wanted to dive into those players, as well as what moves are next for Poles at GM.

D’Andre Swift:

I never ever had Swift on the Bears radar this offseason. To be honest, I didn’t even know he was a free agent. Poles always seems to have these deals up his sleeve, however. Even last year with the DJ Moore trade, Moore had not been talked about a ton compared to other players. Once again, Poles reminded us he’s a great GM and none of us know what he’s thinking. He went out and made Swift his first free agent signing of 2024, giving him a 3-year $24.5 million deal, with $15.3 million guaranteed. I really like this move as it shows Shane Waldren that Poles will get his guys. Swift has been apart of the Detroit Lions as a running back committee with Jamaal Williams and the Philadelphia Eagles as a running back committee with three other backs. Why am I brining this up? It shows that his legs are not completely washed because he has gotten less usage.

Swift offers a lot as a receiver, certainly much more than either Herbert or Johnson did last year. I do still like those guys, but Swift brings more explosiveness, pass blocking and catching, and experience. I really like the signing. I’m not sure what it means for either Herbert or Johnson. I would guess Swift would probably get 60% of the backfield with Herbert and Johnson splitting the other 40%. But what do I know? Either way, this is a very exciting signing and Bears fans are going to enjoy what they get out of him.

Kevin Byard:

Kevin Byard was another signing I wasn’t fully expecting. The main reason for that is that he was just recently cut by the Eagles. He was traded to the Eagles last season from the Titans. The Eagles have undergone some big changes on defense this offseason, so they are probably just changing things up. Poles signed Byard to a 2-year, $15 million deal.

I have a lot of friends who are Titans fans and they all loved Byard while he was there. I don’t pretend to have watched him too closely or dissected his film, but he sounds like a very solid player. I think I would have preferred Xavier McKinney or Geno Stone, but I think Byard is a safe and relatively cheap option who will be a very solid safety to pair with Brisker.

Gerald Everett:

This one totally shocked me. Again, I had heard no talks of Everett to the Bears, and I honestly don’t love the move. I don’t totally dislike it, but just don’t fully understand it. I know that Tonyan is no longer a Bear as he only signed a one-year deal, so we do need some more tight ends. However, I view Everett more as a pass catching tight end and I think the Bears need another blocking tight end.

All the negatives out of the way, I will say Everett is an electric player. I also feel that his receiving production does not equate to his talent. His production has been decent, but I feel he is more talented than he’s shown. He’s very physical, strong, fast, and has some of the best hands I’ve seen from a tight end. He’s also been in Shane Waldren’s system before, so he knows the offense already. All I’ll say is that he certainly would have caught that ball from Fields against the Browns that Tonyan dropped (you know what I’m talking about).

What’s Next?

So far, three free agents have signed with the Bears. Plus, Poles already extended Jaylon Johnson and long-snapper Patrick Scales. He also traded for O-Lineman Ryan Bates from the Bills. I would so far grade this offseason as a C-. It’s been fine, filled some holes and extended Jaylon Johnson. However, Justin Fields is still a Bear and his trade value seems to be diminishing with every second that goes by. We don’t have an answer for what the Bears will do at quarterback, we haven’t found another edge rusher to go on the other side of Montez Sweat, we don’t have a reliable center or defensive tackle, and we only have 5 draft picks. I think there is a big signing coming, given that Poles is signing some smaller sized deals right now. I would like for us to get a defensive lineman for sure before the draft, as well as Fields to get traded as soon as possible if that’s what’s going to happen. The clock is ticking!