Chicago Bears: 5 Free agents to sign before training camp

2. Wesley Woodyard, LB

The Chicago Bears were fortunate with their depth at inside linebacker. Both starters, Danny Trevathan and Roquan Smith, missed a combined 11 games in 2019. Their backups, Nick Kwiatkowski and Kevin Pierre-Louis, both stepped up and did a great job in their places.

Both backups cashed in on their good play and signed nice free-agent contracts elsewhere. Now the Bears have Josh Woods and Joel Iyiegbuniwe. Woods signed with the Bears last season as an undrafted rookie free agent. He played in nine games, recording just five tackles.

Iyiegbuniwe was the Bears’ fourth-round pick in the 2018 NFL draft. In two seasons, he’s mainly played on special teams. In his time on defense, he’s only recorded 13 tackles.

Should something happen to Trevathan and/or Smith again this season, they’ll have inexperienced players trying to step up. That might not work out as well for the Bears.

Perhaps signing a veteran could ease feelings about having an effective backup ready to step up. Wesley Woodyard could be that veteran.

Yes, Woodyard will be 34 when the season begins. His time now is as a backup. He’ll be fresh playing fewer snaps and should be fresh in case someone goes down. He also has playoff experience, having played in 11 postseason games with the Denver Broncos and Tennessee Titans.

Perhaps Woods and Iyiegbuniwe show the same talent skill that Kwiatkowski and Iyiegbuniwe had. The problem is their inexperience. There has to be a veteran presence in case of an emergency who can also be a good backup. Woodyard could provide that.