Projected Free Agent Help for Bears

Free agent projection by NFL insiders has Bears landing help in the form of three players while losing a pair.

The Bears have been reported by Overthecap.com to own the 11th most available salary cap space at $28.6 million, yet it seems their money is no good here.

"Here" in this case would be the land of unrestricted free agents.

ESPN's Chicago area NFL analyst Matt Bowen and Jeremy Fowler penned an article for ESPN-Plus describing the ideal landing spots for the top 50 free agents. They had to go all the way down to No. 32 before they could find a free agent who they thought would be a fit for the Bears.

That one would be Robinson, Cam not Allen. The 6-foot-6, 320-pound Jacksonville left tackle.

Bowen and Fowler see three-time Pro Bowl player Terron Armstead leaving the Saints to go to Jacksonville, which is loaded with twice what the Bears have in available cap space. So they basically see the Bears catching a player Jacksonville discards.

They see the Bears signing three of the top 50, including another lineman who is a world champion. Rams center Brian Allen is an unrestricted free agent who came into his own this past season with an 80.2 Pro Football Focus grade, including an outstanding 87.4 grade blocking the run.

However, Allen's performance prior to 2021 was no better than Sam Mustipher's for the Bears the past two seasons, so whether they would want a center without much record for success beyond 2021 seems unlikely. Also, perhaps they think their own center might advance in a similar fashion next year.

It's something they have experts working on, and Bowen acknowledged this.

"O-line, O-line, O-line. The Bears' new GM, Ryan Poles, was an offensive lineman at Boston College and just helped the Chiefs rebuild their offensive line as part of Kansas City's front office," Bowen pointed out.

It's not all linemen. They saw Allen Robinson leaving to sign with the Indianapolis Colts. Robinson came to the Bears coming off an ACL tear and ESPN's duo sees the Bears signing a receiver to replace Robinson who is doing the same.

Dallas' Michael Gallup was the receiver they project signing in Chicago, but it will take time as he rehabs. They'd have to hope for better results than the first year with Robinson, when he came off his knee injury for just 55 catches. He quickly got back up to speed in 2019.

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