Grading the Bears’ signing of DT Andrew Billings

Andrew Billings immediately upgrades the Bears run defense at a reasonable cost. Here is our grade of the signing.

Defensive line was a glaring weakness for the Chicago Bears throughout the 2022 season and general manger Ryan Poles took another step towards improving it for 2023. The Bears signed former Las Vegas Raiders defensive tackle Andrew Billings to a one-year deal on Thursday. It’s their second addition to the line after signing DeMarcus Walker earlier in the week.

Billings was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth round in 2016 but missed his rookie season due to a torn meniscus. He bounced back in 2017 and has had a modest career up to this point. Last year for the Raiders, Billings notched a career-high 39 total tackles (three for a loss), and one sack. He joins the Bears as someone who will rotate in as an interior lineman who will hopefully be a solution when it comes to stopping the run. Here is our initial grade of the move.