Addition by not subtracting
In the opening days of free agency, the moves the Bears avoided were more interesting than the ones they made.
The team was required to get under the salary cap by Wednesday afternoon and did so without cutting outstanding defensive tackle Akiem Hicks, cornerback Kyle Fuller or tight end Jimmy Graham.
Any of those players could go if the Bears need to make room for a high-priced upgrade at another position, but those options have dwindled. So the bad news for the Bears is that they didn’t add anyone exciting, but the good news is they aren’t parting with any essential players as of now.
If the Bears don’t restructure Fuller or Hicks’ contracts, they will have two of the team’s five largest salary-cap hits for 2021. Fuller counts for a team-high $20 million, and Hicks’ number is $12 million.
Bears add Blackson
The Bears agreed to sign defensive tackle Angelo Blackson to a two-year deal, a source confirmed to the Sun-Times late Wednesday.
Blackson started nine games for the Cardinals last season, one year after starting 15 for the Texans. He recorded 2½ of his six career sacks last season, finishing with eight quarterback hits and 24 tackles.
A fourth-round pick of the Titans in 2015, the Auburn alum spent two years in Tennessee, three in Houston and one in Arizona.
Bush is back
The Bears announced safety Deon Bush re-signed for one year.
Bush has started only eight games in five seasons but has emerged as one of the Bears’ better specialteams players. He played 42.5% of the special-teams downs last year, the eighth-highest percentage on the team, despite suffering a foot injury in December.
A fourth-round pick out of Miami in 2016, Bush has played behind veteran strong safety starters in each of the last three seasons: Adrian Amos, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Tashaun Gipson. Gipson, who became a free agent Wednesday, called Bush “a starting safety in this league” in October.
Gipson started every game and played 98.4% of the defensive snaps last season, while Bush was mostly a special-teams player last season and got 66 total snaps on defense. He has 49 tackles and one interception in 65 career games.
Headed out
In addition to forgoing new contracts and allowing many pending free agents to hit the open market, the Bears did not tender restricted free-agent kicker Eddy Pineiro. That was a given after the team signed Cairo Santos to a five-year, $17.5 million extension last week. Pineiro was solid for the Bears in 2019 and finished 17th in the NFL by making 82.1% of his field goals. He went down with a groin injury last summer, and Santos put him out of a job by making a team-record 93.8% of his field goals.
Best available
With the Bears yet to make significant moves at key positions of need, they could still be active with second- and third-tier free agents. They need upgrades at both offensive tackle positions, and with Trent Williams resigning with the 49ers, the Bears are left to explore veterans like Alejandro Villanueva and Russell Okung. At wide receiver, T.Y. Hilton, Golden Tate and Sammy Watkins are among the most notable free agents still unsigned.