Chicago Bears Insider: To Sign or Not to Sign Anthony Adams

The Bears have several unsigned free agents that they were not able to lock into deals due to the start of the NFL’s lockout. 

Some of these players include outside linebackers Nick Roach and Pisa Tinoisamoa, cornerback Corey Graham and the subject of this story, defensive tackle Anthony Adams.

Going back to the 2011 NFL Draft, the Bears ended up drafting Oregon State defensive tackle Stephen Paea in the second round seemingly to replace the now departed Tommie Harris. There are some that feel that he is also there to replace Adams and now the Bears don’t need to bring him back.

But this can’t be the case.

Letting Adams walk would leave the Bears with a pretty sizeable hole in the defensive tackle rotation in terms of ability and experience.

Adams, being a larger defensive tackle, is able to come in and fill the gaps well and is especially well adept at stopping the run. He was able to get some pass pressure on opposing quarterbacks at certain points last season but that is not his strength.

Not signing Adams would leave the Bears with Paea, Henry Melton, Matt Toeaina, Marcus Harrison and Tank Tyler to work in that rotation. Melton and Toeaina are locks to make the team and will be solid contributors while Marcus Harrison and Tank Tyler are yet unproven talents. Harrison may not even make the team if he doesn’t come to camp in shape and ready to play.

So can the Bears really afford to let Adams go?  Can they do that knowing that they have only two tested players (in Toeaina and Melton) , an untested rookie (Paea) and two guys that they just aren’t sure about (Harrison and Tyler)?

That is a difficult question but the Bears still need Adams on the roster in order to have an effective defensive line in 2011. No one really knows how well Paea is going to play right out of the gate and the Bears need that security blanket and veteran experience on the line to keep things moving smoothly throughout the transition.

So, not bringing back Adams is something that the Bears are going to need to do at least for the short term. 

Too much change on the defensive line will give them problems in the future, so bringing Adams back will help them keep continuity on defense and not suffer from a lack of production there in 2011.

There are those that Adams isn’t needed any longer because the Bear’s have Paea but they tend to forget that the Bears would need to replace two bodies on that line if Adams was to go. 

Even though Harris’ play had dropped off quite a bit he was still part of the rotation and was another body in that rotation. Paea is there to replace Harris in that rotation. 

The Bears do have some guys to step in and play but none of them are really tested like Adams has been.