Free-Agent Contracts Bears Must Pursue After Preseason

The preseason is over, rosters have been trimmed to 53 players, and the Chicago Bears are preparing for Sunday's season-opener against the Los Angeles Rams.

Though many fans likely hoped that rookie Justin Fields would emerge from the preseason as the starting quarterback against Los Angeles, Chicago is going with veteran Andy Dalton. Fields, though, will open as the primary backup.

"We did put him in that spot early on to see if he could keep it. And he did," coach Matt Nagy told Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer.

While the Bears aren't likely to make any quarterback changes ahead of Week 1, they should look to continue tweaking their roster coming out of the preseason. Here we'll examine three remaining free agents Chicago must consider signing.

OT Russell Okung

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This offseason, the Bears used a second-round pick on offensive tackle Teven Jenkins and then dumped 2020 starting left tackle Charles Leno Jr. Unfortunately, the plan to start Jenkins on the left side was derailed by a back injury that required surgery.

"We feel we fixed the problem," general manager Ryan Pace said, per Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun-Times.

However, Jenkins may still miss a significant amount of time post-surgery. This leaves the Bears looking at Elijah Wilkinson, who lacks experience at left tackle, or the 39-year-old Jason Peters on the left side.

Chicago should add another option by signing free agent Russell Okung.

While Okung has only appeared in 13 games over the past two seasons, he is an experienced left tackle with 131 starts on his resume.

WR John Brown

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The Bears have their top two wide receivers in Allen Robinson II and Darnell Mooney. They have a couple of other intriguing options in Marquise Goodwin and Damiere Byrd. However, Chicago also traded away Anthony Miller and could use another proven receiver on its roster.

This is where veteran speedster John Brown enters the equation. Brown was signed by the Las Vegas Raiders this offseason but was released as part of final cuts. He spent the previous two seasons with the Buffalo Bills and had a 1,000-yard campaign in 2019.

In all, Brown has amassed 4,748 receiving yards and an impressive 14.8 yards-per-reception average as a pro.

While the Bears have one deep threat in Goodwin, he was limited to just 20 games between the 2018 and 2019 seasons before he opted out of the 2020 campaign. Adding a second burner in Brown would help Chicago to ensure that it can stretch the field this season.

CB Desmond Trufant

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Chicago released cornerback Desmond Trufant as part of their final roster cuts. However, they should think long and hard about bringing back the veteran before he signs elsewhere.

After releasing No. 1 cornerback Kyle Fuller earlier this offseason, the Bears find themselves lacking in the secondary.

While Trufant has only appeared in 15 games over the past two years—and isn't the same high-end starter he was earlier in his career—he would bring some much-needed talent and experience to Chicago's secondary.

Trufant was a Pro Bowler in 2015, and when healthy in 2018, he allowed an opposing quarterback rating of only 87.6.

While the Bears might not have loved what they saw from Trufant during camp, there aren't many alternatives on the open market, and depth in the secondary will be critical this season. Chicago has to consider bringing him back for, at a minimum, a depth role.