Two players the Bears must make an offer after the Draft!
Considering the amount of "Holes" still left open on the roster for the Bears, we can't expect them to all be filled during the draft. I think a realistic scenario is that Ryan Poles selects two players that will start in week 1 in this year's draft. It could be less and it could even be more, but 2 is a realistic number. This means that there will still be a lot of weakness on the depth chart.
Here are two players that the Bears must call once the draft is done:
1. Larry Ogunjobi
For those of you that don't remember, the Bears and Ogunjobi initially agreed to terms on a 3-year deal of $40.5 million which included $26.35 million guaranteed. However, a few days later, it was announced that Ogunjobi had failed his physical coming off a foot injury. This was a really tough blow.
There is a chance that he could even sign Ogunjobi to a cheaper, shorter-term deal than the one they agreed on a few weeks ago. One might say that if Ogunjobi recovers fully, he could turn out to be a potential steal. Let's not get ahead of ourselves though...
When healthy, Ogunjobi is one of the league's best interior defensive linemen in all of football and could provide tremendous help defending the run. Ogunjobi has missed only two games in the past four seasons. He had a career-high 7 sacks, 12 TFL and 16 QB hits last season. He would fill the Bears' immediate need at three-technique. In fact, Ogunjobi was also ranked as a top 10 interior defensive run-stopper per PFF for the past 4 years. He played a pivotal role in the Bengals' amazing run defense last year.
2. Eric Fisher
Fisher was the first overall pick in 2013. He played his first nine seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. He was very successful during his tenure with them. He made 2 pro bowls and won a Super Bowl. While he wasn't the elite-tier left tackle people expected him to be after his college days at Central Michigan, he was extremely solid and reliable. He only missed 12 games in his 10-year career so far. Following his time with the Chiefs, he signed a one-year deal with the Indianapolis Colts.
The Colts and Fisher were hoping to work something out before free agency began. However, that didn't come to fruition, and Fisher is on the open market for the second season in a row. At 6'7″ and 317 pounds and with his experience, he could be a very nice signing for any team looking for help on the offensive line.
Why does he fit with the Bears?
We have seen so far in free agency the importance that reunions with GMs or coaches have. Almost all of the signings so far from the Bears had played for either Luke Getsy, Matt Eberflus or Ryan Poles. For Fisher, he has played for two of them: GM Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus. Poles was in Kansas City when the Chiefs drafted Fisher. He spent nine seasons with him and you have to believe Poles had a great influence on Fisher's development. The same goes for Eberflus, who was with the Colts last season. While he did not directly coach Fisher, he is clearly aware of the impact that Fisher had on the great offensive line in Indianapolis last year.
The Bears have several questions left on the offensive line. Lucas Patrick was recently signed from Green Bay and is expected to take over at the center position. However, who will play both tackles position? Will it be Jenkins or Borom? Signing Fisher might answer a lot of them.
| POLL | ||
28 AVRIL | 166 ANSWERS Two players the Bears must make an offer after the Draft! Which player would you like the most with the Bears? | ||
| Eric Fisher | 29 | 17.5 % |
| Larry Ogunjobi | 65 | 39.2 % |
| Both | 72 | 43.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
