Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles has another busy day in free agency. On Day 2 of the official free agency period he signed four players.
Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles entered the new NFL year with the fattest wallet in the league. Well, he is certainly acting like he does.
Poles added four new players to help overhaul a roster that won just three games in 2022. Additionally, they lost their last 10 games.
Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles staying active in NFL Free Agency
In the process, however, the Bears had about $98 million in salary cap space and the top overall pick. Because of the salary cap, Poles was able to pull off a big trade that gave the team additional draft assets as well as their likely WR1, D.J. Moore.
Poles has gone on a spending spree since the beginning of the free agency period. He hasn’t been spending crazily, though. He has some big contracts, yes. Moore will be a $20.1 million cap hit in 2023. He also signed linebacker Tremaine Edmunds to a four-year deal at $18 million annually.
However, his other signings have been economical. Even with the Edmunds deal, Poles signed him and T.J. Edwards and completely changed the linebackers unit. As of now, he has Edmunds, Edwards, and Jack Sanborn to man the linebacker spot at a total of $25 million. Roquan Smith, who Poles had to trade because of a contract dispute, was looking for $20 million per year. Poles traded him and acquired two picks. Now his linebackers unit is solid at the three starting spots, not just top-heavy.
Poles also added help on the offensive and defensive lines. He added offensive guard Nate Davis and defensive end DeMarcus Walker.
He wasn’t finished there, however. He just signed four more players. They add significant help on both offense and defense.
Poles’ vision is coming to fruition. Let’s take a look at the new signings.
PJ Walker, Quarterback
Poles got some help for quarterback Justin Fields by going through the Carolina Panthers. He again dipped into the Carolina farm and signed quarterback P.J. Walker.
The Bears only had Trevor Siemian as Fields’ backup. Siemian is recovering from an injury that cut his 2022 season short. Now, with Walker, Siemian became expendable. As a result, the Bears released him.
Having Walker back up Fields means there won’t have to be a change in play-calling. Siemian and Fields are two completely different quarterbacks. If Fields goes down, the offense wouldn’t be the same.
Walker and Fields, on the other hand, are similar players. They both have good arms and can use their legs to extend plays.
No, Walker doesn’t have the same talent as Fields, but he does well with the skills he has. He quickly earned the respect of his teammates and coaches despite always being in a reserve role.
Walker has a canon of an arm. In his time in both the XFL and with the Panthers, he made some highlight-worthy throws. He tends to get wild sometimes, trying to do too much. However, with the way the Bears successfully run the ball, offensive coordinator Luke Getsy can keep him under control.
As I mentioned, Getsy won’t have to change the offense much if Walker comes in. It keeps the continuity going. Even so, expect the Bears to find another quarterback in the draft.
Andrew Billings, Defensive Tackle
One of the biggest disappointments of the Chicago Bears’ defense was how they played against the run. They ranked 31st in rushing yards allowed and last in rushing touchdowns allowed. Opponents were able to gash the defense up the middle.
Andrew Billings will help change all of that.
Billings was the Cincinnati Bengals’ fourth-round pick in the 2016 draft. He spent the last two seasons playing first for the Cleveland Browns and last year for the Las Vegas Raiders.
Billings adds 6-foot-1, 328 pounds of beef on the line. He is an effective run stuffer. He loves to swallow up ball carriers and stop them in their track.
Billings won’t help much against the pass, though. He has just 4.5 career sacks. However, he’ll be a great rotational player.
Despite not being a force against the pass, Billings will still provide help. He takes up space and the offense has to account for him. With him attracting so much attention the pass rushers will have more space to work with. That will make their jobs of getting to the quarterback easier.
While Billings provides help, expect Poles to sign another defensive tackle. Perhaps he goes through the draft to find that help.
Robert Tonyan, Tight End
Another area in which the Chicago Bears really struggled was at tight end. Sure, Cole Kmet had a breakout season. However, there was no help provided behind him.
The other three tight ends on the roster combined for six catches for 52 yards. That did not help either the offense or Fields.
Now Robert Tonyan provides that help.
Tonyan played for the Green Bay Packers and was one of Aaron Rodgers’ favorite targets. Therefore, he has some familiarity with Getsy. Getsy was the passing game coordinator in Green Bay. In fact, Tonyan had his best season with Getsy in 2020. He had 52 catches for 586 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Now he comes to Chicago to help Fields. Fields now has two additional dependable targets in Tonyan and Moore. He also has more options in the red zone. He has two big targets in Kmet and Tonyan. In addition, he has more wide receiver targets. Even if the defense does a good job of coverage in the end zone, Fields can just tuck the ball and run it in for the score.
This could be a much-improved and dangerous offense now and Tonyan could be a big help in making that happen.
D’Onta Foreman, Running Back
The Chicago Bears had a hole to fill in the running backs room after the departure of David Montgomery. Poles went and signed Travis Homer, but he is more of a gadget player like Tarik Cohen was when he okayed in Chicago.
Poles then went and signed D’Onta Foreman. In 2022, Foreman had career-highs in carries (203) rushing yards (914), yards per run (4.5), and touchdowns (5).
Foreman and Khalil Herbert will be a tough duo to defend. They will keep hitting the defense with those two runners so they won’t wear down. Also, despite expecting fewer runs by Fields, when he does run it will be even more impactful.
Defenses will have to choose their poison — defend Herbert/Foreman or target Fields. He might have fewer rushing yards but he should have bigger plays and more scores. When opponents then turn their attention to Fields, the other backs will have their big plays.
Foreman is a similar runner to Montgomery. He has great contact balance and will gain yards even after getting hit. Herbert provides the flash and Foreman the power.
Throw in Homer’s pass-catching ability and this group of running backs could be even better than what the Bears had in 2022.
There were a lot of rumors about the Bears trading Fields. Poles has now shown, however, that he is firmly behind Fields. He added dependable targets at wide receiver, tight end, and running back. Fields now has weapons around him so he can develop his passing game. Additionally, this will be a much different team that takes the field in 2023 than we saw in 2022.