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The Chicago Bears are facing an offseason with several position needs that will need to addressed for this team to improve, which starts on offense.
Pro Football Focus examined the biggest needs for every NFL team this offseason, and it’s no surprise that quarterback, offensive line and wide receiver were all singled out as Chicago’s biggest needs.
The Mitchell Trubisky experiment has failed on multiple occasions now and adding Nick Foles to the roster as a hedge did little to help. It’s time for the team to clean house at the position and start over. Maybe one of those players can serve as a solid backup, but the Bears need a new starter.
Trubisky recorded twice as many turnover-worthy plays as big-time throws this season, and while Foles was better in that regard, he still passed for just 5.9 yards per attempt and earned a PFF passing grade below 70.0 in a season of record passing numbers.
With general manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy’s jobs on the line this year, expect them to make a splash in the quarterback market. It looks like they’ve been exploring all avenues so far this offseason, which includes a couple of star quarterbacks that are on or appear to be on the trade block in Houston’s Deshaun Watson and Detroit’s Matthew Stafford.
While the Bears might not land either, the fact that they’ve been mentioned in conjunction with both shows that they’re looking at all options.
Aside from quarterback, the Bears have two other significant needs to address on offense — the offensive line and wide receiver. While Chicago seems to have a solid core intact with the interior of the line — with Cody Whitehair, James Daniels, Sam Mustipher and Alex Bars — the tackles remain the issue.
The Bears need to address the offensive line in the NFL draft, especially considering right tackle Bobby Massie figures to be a cap-casualty this offseason.
Chicago could also be facing a future without wide receiver Allen Robinson, who appears poised to hit the free-agent market in March. After not locking him down to a contract extension this season, the Bears will have to replace their No. 1 receiver that managed to thrive in one of the league’s worst offenses over the last couple of seasons.
They’ll likely explore the NFL draft and could even turn to free agency where players like Kenny Golladay and JuJu Smith-Schuster will be available.