Chicago Bears' Bargain Guide to the 2015 Offseason
It's no secret that the Chicago Bears need help on both sides of the football this offseason if they want to be competitive in 2015, but not all impact players have to come with a hefty price tag.
Throughout the years, many teams in the NFL have been able revamp their rosters by maximizing their draft picks and finding bargains in free agency.
According to Over the Cap, the Bears currently have $114,759,062 committed toward the roster for 2015. With a projected salary cap of $140 million in 2015, the Bears could have nearly $26.7 million available to spend this offseason, the ninth-most in the NFL.
While the team could certainly look to improve its roster by spending big money on guys like Ndamukong Suh or Justin Houston, they will also look to find bargain players in free agency and the draft who can step in and contribute from day one.
By finding bargains and maximizing draft picks this season, the Bears will have more money to spend on potential big-name free agents this offseason and next as well as spend on eventual contract extensions for guys like Alshon Jeffery and Kyle Long.
Here is our bargain guide for the Chicago Bears in free agency and the draft for the 2015 offseason.
Nose Tackle
1 of 5
With the impending shift from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense under new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, the Bears will have to do some retooling along the defensive line this offseason.
Defensive end Willie Young will likely have to make a move to the outside as a 3-4 linebacker, while Lamarr Houston should be able to settle into playing the 5-technique defensive end position. Jared Allen will likely only be used as an expensive situational rusher, while defensive tackle Will Sutton will need to add some weight if he wants to make the transition to the 5-technique.
With those four players likely shifting around their positions, Jeremiah Ratliff and Ego Ferguson appear to be the only two players who will not need to make a big transition next season. Ratliff has prior experience playing the nose tackle in a 3-4, while Ferguson is better suited to play straight-up over the center as a 0-technique.
Even though Ratliff and Ferguson can both play nose tackle, the team would be wise to try and find a bargain player at the position in either the draft or free agency.
An interesting name to consider via free agency is Green Bay's B.J. Raji. A former first-round pick in 2009, Raji registered 10.5 sacks and 129 tackles in five seasons for the Packers before a bicep injury last preseason cost him his 2014 season.
He struggled at times in 2013, and his injury in 2014 may drive his price tag down this offseason.
In addition to being able to play the 0-technique, he also has the ability to line up as a 5-technique defensive end. He spent all of 2013 and part of 2012 playing the position, and while he did have mixed results when lined up on the outside, he proved he is flexible enough to move around if the team needs him to.
If the team wants to address the position in the draft, Washington's Danny Shelton could be an option with the seventh overall pick, but it is unlikely the team would want to spend that kind of money on a nose tackle in the first round.
Oklahoma's Jordan Phillips or Iowa's Carl Davis could be options for the team in the second round.
Phillips appears to be more of a boom-or-bust type player at the next level. He has great size (6'6", 334 pounds) and incredible athleticism, but he needs to refine his game if he wants to make an impact in the NFL. Too often he plays inconsistently and does not utilize his athleticism at all times. He does have great quickness off the ball and should improve at the point of attack with good coaching.
Davis also has tremendous size, measuring in at 6'5" and 321 pounds, but he often stands up off the snap, which allows opposing offensive lineman to push him back. He also has good athleticism and does a nice job taking on double-teams.
If the team decides to save money and look toward developing late-round talent, Oklahoma State's James Castleman or Fresno State's Tyeler Davison are both projected late-rounders who have the size to play the position but will need to develop from a technical standpoint.
Free Safety
2 of 5
Even when Chicago's defense was putting up terrific numbers in the mid-2000s, the team still struggled on a yearly basis to find the perfect safety combination.
Ryan Mundy proved in 2013 that he can be serviceable at strong safety, but the Bears need a better option at free safety moving forward.
Chris Conte will likely hit the open market in free agency this offseason, leaving 2014 fourth-round pick Brock Vereen as the only free safety on the roster. Vereen showed flashes at times last season but proved he still has a long way to go if he wants to be reliable starter in the future.
It would not be surprising if the Bears tried to go after someone like New England's Devin McCourty or Cleveland's Tashaun Gipson, but if they decide to go a more frugal route, Denver's Rahim Moore could be an option.
Moore would not exactly be a bargain but would likely cost considerably less than McCourty or Gipson. He could be swayed to come to Chicago to play for John Fox again. Moore finished last season with 49 tackles, two forced fumbles with four interceptions and a plus-2.4 grade, via Pro Football Focus.
Although he has had solid seasons from a statistical standpoint the last couple of years, he has had his struggles in coverage in the past. He is still just 25 years old and has the ability to develop into a solid free safety if put into the right situation.
If the Bears look to the draft to find a bargain at the position, TCU's Chris Hackett and Ole Miss' Cody Prewitt both look to be mid-round picks with the ability to be starters in their rookie seasons.
Hackett finished the 2014 season with 75 tackles, seven interceptions, six pass deflections and one forced fumble. He is a terrific tackler and showed a knack for getting after the football last season.
Even though Alabama's Landon Collins appears to be the consensus choice for best safety in this draft, Bleacher Report's Luke Easterling thinks Hackett is a close second:
"One bandwagon I'm jumping on is #TCU S Chris Hackett. Not as much separating him from Landon Collins as some might think. #NFLDraft
— Luke Easterling (@LukeEasterling) January 14, 2015"
If Hackett is not their guy, Prewitt is another solid option. He has good vision and was often asked to play single-high safety in Ole Miss' defense. He makes good breaks on the ball and has the ability to be a playmaker at the next level.
He is not the fastest guy on the field but plays smart and is able to get himself in the right position. He could also play the strong safety position, but his skill set is best suited for free safety in the NFL.
Pass-Rusher
3 of 5
In order to make a 3-4 defense work, the Bears are going to need to find pass-rushers, particularly at the outside linebacker position.
The team could look at guys like Missouri's Shane Ray or Kentucky's Alvin Dupree in the draft, but even if they do draft a pass-rusher early, they'll still need players with experience on the outside.
The team could look to use guys like Shea McClellin and/or Christian Jones as pass-rushers from the outside linebacker position, but they could find a bargain in a guy like Houston's Brooks Reed.
A second-round pick of the Texans backs in 2011, Reed has racked up 118 tackles, two interceptions and 14.5 sacks in the last four seasons.
He only registered three sacks in 2014, but according to Pro Football Focus, he finished the season with 26 quarterback hits, second on the team behind only J.J. Watt.
With Jadeveon Clowney set to return in 2015 from a knee injury and Whitney Mercilus expected to hold down the other outside linebacker spot in Houston, Reed will likely hit the open market this offseason.
Top potential free-agent pass-rushers like Justin Houston, Jason Worilds and Brian Orakpo will all likely go after big money, meaning someone like Brooks could come a little cheaper because he does not have the same kind of sack numbers as other pass-rushers in free agency.
If the team opts to spend big money at the position in free agency, they could look to the middle of the draft to find impact players who can round out the lineup on game day.
Zach Hodges spent his career at Harvard moving around from defensive end to outside linebacker but projects to the outside in the NFL. He will likely be available in the middle rounds because he never had a chance to play against top-tier talent in the Ivy League, but he has a great first step and is relentless when working his way toward the ball-carrier.
He knows he has the versatility to play various positions and is willing to do whatever the coaching staff asks of him.
"I want to be like water, flow with anything and come with as much force as possible," he told CBSSports.com's Dane Brugler. "Fit into anything. I don't want to fit just one style, I want to be whatever I need to be and do it as powerfully as I can do it."
Even though there are questions as to whether or not Hodges can be a starter at the next level, he has the right attitude and a skill set that often translates to success in the NFL.
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Inside Linebacker
4 of 5
The impending move to a 3-4 defense in 2015 also means the Bears will need to address the inside linebacker position via the draft and/or free agency.
While the desired skill sets for an inside linebacker in a 4-3 and 3-4 are very similar, teams typically want their 3-4 inside linebackers to be able to shed blocks and fight their way to the ball-carrier.
Athleticism and speed are also top priorities, but teams can typically get by with one inside linebacker who can play downhill against the run and another who is a bit more athletic and plays well in space.
The Bears will likely go into next season with third-year man Jon Bostic at one of the inside linebacker positions. Bostic is more of a rangy, athletic-type linebacker, meaning the team will need to find someone who can shed blockers and fight through traffic to make tackles.
Guys like Mississippi State's Benardrick McKinney and TCU's Paul Dawson could be options for the Bears in the draft, but Miami's Denzel Perryman may be the best fit at inside linebacker.
Not flashy or overly athletic, Perryman has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. He has a nose for the football and is one of the hardest-hitting linebackers in this year's draft.
He has limitations in pass coverage, but his ability against the run overshadows those deficiencies. He plays a little stiff in his hips and can be a bit overaggressive at times, but he is a prototypical 3-4 inside linebacker. He will likely come off the board in either the second or third round.
If the team waits until later in the draft to address the position, Michigan State's Taiwan Jones has the potential to develop into a starter.
Like Perryman, Jones plays well downhill and does a good job of shedding blockers but tends to freelance in games too often and needs to improve on his ability to read and react to a play. He is more fluid in coverage but might not possess the speed to match up with quicker tight ends and running backs.
If the Bears feel the position could be best filled via free agency, two former Bears may wind up being bargain options.
After spending the last 12 years with the Bears at weak-side linebacker, Lance Briggs is set to become a free agent this offseason. After being placed on injured reserve last season, he felt his time with the organization was all but done with Phil Emery and Marc Trestman still on board as general manager and head coach, respectively.
"The closure I had there was a different GM, different coach," Briggs said, via Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. "My understanding there was this was my last year and I am moving on."
Briggs' view has changed since the team fired Emery and Trestman and brought in Ryan Pace and John Fox last month. He now believes he can have an open dialogue with both about returning if they want him back.
"New GM, new coach, we haven't had those kinds of talks yet," Briggs said. "Obviously the door is open until we have that conversation and I know how they feel."
Briggs did play inside linebacker in college at Arizona, but the transition inside in the NFL at age 34 might not be the easiest.
His last contract was for three years, $17.5 million, and he had a cap hit of $6.5 million last season. He likely will not be able to garner that type of money on the open market in free agency, but if the Bears can bring him back on a one- or two-year deal similar to the one-year, $3.5 million deal cornerback Charles Tillman received last season, he may end up being a bargain if he can find new life in Fangio's 3-4 defense.
Another bargain option the Bears could look at is Darryl Sharpton. A former fourth-round pick of the Houston Texans in 2010, Sharpton signed with the Bears in late September and made two starts while appearing in five games in 2015. He registered 15 tackles and one pass deflection before he was placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.
Sharpton struggles in pass coverage, but he has played well against the run in his career. He is not a long-term solution but could help hold down the position for a season or two if the Bears decide to draft and develop an inside linebacker in the later rounds of the draft.
Offensive Tackle
5 of 5
The Bears have a couple of solid pieces along the offensive line in guards Kyle Long and Matt Slauson, but the team still needs help at the tackle position, particularly on the right side.
Luckily for the Bears, this year's draft is full of quality tackles.
Iowa's Brandon Scherff, LSU's La'el Collins and Stanford's Andrus Peat could all be options for in the first round, but the Bears may be able to find some bargains in the third or fourth rounds.
Overshadowed by predecessors Luke Joeckel and Jake Matthews at Texas A&M, Cedric Ogbuehi has the ability to step in and be a starter from day one if healthy. He likely would have been a first- or second-round pick in this year's draft, but he tore his ACL in the Aggies' bowl game and had surgery last month.
There is no telling whether or not he will be ready for the start of the 2015 season, but if he drops down in the draft, taking him in the middle rounds could be worth the risk.
He has a rare combination of athleticism and strength, is light on his feet and has the ability to play every position on the offensive line, via Bleacher Report's Scott Carasik:
"#Carasik2015Top100 No. 41 OL Cedric Ogbuehi, Texas A&M Ridiculous athlete for the position and can play all 5 spots on the line.
— Scott Carasik (@ScottCarasik) January 31, 2015"
He does have a tendency to wait for pass-rushers to come to him instead of engaging with them at the line of scrimmage, but his athleticism allowed him to get away with it in college. He will need to improve on his technique but could be a bargain for the Bears if he slides due to his injury.
If the Bears want to look to free agency for a bargain player, their options may be limited. Green Bay's Bryan Bulaga would be an ideal choice, but after another strong season for the Packers he will likely be looking for a contract much larger than the five-year, $13.245 million deal he signed as a first-round pick back in 2010.
If the team wants to find a stopgap at right tackle to replace Jordan Mills in 2015, Dallas' Doug Free could be an intriguing option. He has had his share of ups and downs over his few seasons with the Cowboys, but he came on strong near the end of 2014 before an injury ended his season. He finished the year with a plus-8.5 grade, via Pro Football Focus.
The 31-year old is entering the later stages of his career, meaning the Bears may be able to get him at a bargain price close to the one-year, $1.6 million deal 31-year old Jeromey Clary signed with the San Diego Chargers last season.
He would not be expected to hold on to the job for more than a couple of seasons but would give the team a stable anchor on the right side until a younger player develops.
Statistical information courtesy of NFL.com and Sports-Reference.com unless otherwise noted. All salary-cap information courtesy of OverTheCap.com.
Matt Eurich is an NFL/Chicago Bears Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and a member of the Pro Football Writers of America.
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