5 Free Agent Targets for Bears After 2024 NFL Draft originally appeared in NBC Sports Chicago
Now that the NFL Draft is done, the Bears get a clearer picture of what their depth chart will look like this season — and where they might still need help. So GM Ryan Polos will have a more focused plan while sorting through the remaining free agents on the market to fill any remaining holes on the roster.
Compared to when the Poles tore down the roster in 2022, there isn’t much work left to do for the front office. After the first waves of free agency and the draft, the team is positioning itself at the skill positions on offense. Your secondary remains stacked. If the team could use extra bodies anywhere, it would be on the offensive and defensive lines (like most NFL teams), so that’s where we’ll look.
It’s also worth noting that the Bears likely aren’t in line to make another early signing. Depending on where you look, the Bears are estimated to have between $8 million and $12 million in cap space after the draft, and the Poles may want to keep some powder for use throughout the season. So don’t expect huge deals projected here.
Green could be an option for a one-year reunion with the Bears, just adding Austin Booker to the draft. The depth on the defensive line is good, but what he brings to special teams is better. Green blocked two kicks for the Bears last season.
Haynes has dealt with numerous injuries throughout his five-year career, so he likely wouldn’t be called up to start for the Bears. But he could still accomplish two goals for the Bears: 1) increase competition for depth spots on the interior and 2) help teach new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron’s scheme and verbiage. Haynes worked with Waldron the past three seasons in Seattle.
Joseph turns 36 next year and is not the same player he was in his heyday with the Vikings. But defensive tackle is one of the Bears’ weakest position groups, and Joseph could be an impactful veteran presence to help Gervon Dexter as Dexter presumably takes over for the team’s three starting head coaches.
The Bears signed Ngakoue to a one-year deal to bolster their pass rush last summer, but his season ended early due to an ankle injury. If the medical tests confirm it, it would make sense for the team to backtrack, as both sides know each other. It would also take some of the pressure off Booker as he works to hone his raw talent in his rookie season.
RAKEEM NUNEZ-ROCHES – DEFENSIVE ATTACK
Nunez-Roches is younger than Joseph at 31, but with just four career sacks he doesn’t have the same track record of production as a pass rusher. He still has plenty of experience with 118 games and 42 starts to his name, and brings positional versatility to the table with snaps at NT, DT, and DE. The Poles have also played a key role in choosing Nunez-Roches before. Poles was Kansas City’s director of college scouting when the Chiefs selected Nunez-Roches in the sixth round of the 2017 draft.
