■ Despite hitting with some big names, free-agent signings were shown to rarely pay off in the last decade.
Lesson of the decade: Bears must build winner from within
The Bears began the decade battling to remain competitive with an aging defense constructed by Lovie Smith.
They will end the decade Sunday in Minneapolis, win or lose, frustrated that their rebuilding effort and first success since Smith’s exit after the 2012 season has stalled.
In between, the Bears were a constant churn of mediocrity through the 2010s, never able to get traction or sustain modest success. Entering Sunday’s meaningless game against the Vikings, who are locked into the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoffs, the Bears have a 75-84 regular-season record, one playoff win and just two postseason appearances over the last 10 seasons. They’ve had more last-place finishes in the NFC North (four) than winning seasons (three).
There have been plenty of top-10 lists and all-decade retrospectives, but the overarching lesson the Bears should have learned over the last 10 years is clear: The key to a turnaround does not lie in free agency. That’s no way to build the core of a roster, and it can’t be used to fuel a rebuild.
The Bears have spared no expense when it comes to player procurement and have hit on some very good players in free agency.
Defensive end Julius Peppers, the first free agent the franchise signed this decade, was probably the most impactful. He was selected to three Pro Bowls as a Bear and helped lead the team to the NFC championship game in his first season.
Defensive end Willie Young was a shrewd addition by former general manager Phil Emery in 2014 who turned into a very good player. Ditto Ryan Pace’s signing of Akiem Hicks in 2016. It’s impossible to imagine where the passing offense would be without the addition of Allen Robinson a year ago.
Then there’s a long list of freeagent flubs, guys who hit the jackpot with the Bears and provided little in return, several never playing another down of football elsewhere. Getting a contract from the Bears was winning the football lottery for their agents. It’s a reminder that, just as the draft is an inexact science, the open market can lead to just as many busts.
Free agency is often viewed as a quick option to upgrade rosters, but caveat emptor — buyer beware — always applies. Free agents are almost always on the street for one reason or another. The four free agents who landed the biggest contracts in March made marginal impacts with their new teams this season:
■ DE Trey Flowers, Lions, 5 years, $90 million, $56 million guaranteed, 3-11-1 record, last in NFC North.
■ LB C.J. Mosley, Jets, 5 years, $85 million, $51 million guaran teed, 6-9 record, third in AFC East.
■ QB Nick Foles, Jaguars, 4 years, $88 million, $50.125 million guaranteed, 5-10 record, last in AFC South.
■ S Landon Collins, Redskins, 6 years, $84 million, $44.5 million guaranteed, 3-12 record, last in NFC East.
Those four teams enter this weekend with a combined 17-42-1 record. It’s worth wondering if all have some level of buyer’s remorse. The Jaguars benched Foles for rookie sixth-round pick Gardner Minshew.
The Bears haven’t used free agency only to plug a hole here or there. They’ve dipped in to fill the most important positions on the roster: edge rusher, offensive tackle, wide receiver and, of course, quarterback.
The club has become more draft-driven in recent seasons. The Bears began the decade with 15 draft picks as Week 1 starters in 2010, a total that declined to nine by 2014, Emery’s final season as GM. There were only six draft picks in the starting lineup to open Pace’s first season in 2015, a number that climbed to 12 in 2018 and 14 this season.
Not only did the Bears pay quarterback Mike Glennon $16 million in 2017, they’ve paid Chase Daniel $10 million over the last two seasons to be a caddie for starter Mitch Trubisky. Jason Campbell picked up $3.5 million as a backup in 2012. If you consider Trubisky was only biding his time as a rookie in 2017 until Glennon stumbled — which took only four games — the last time the Bears turned to a backup quarterback whom they had drafted was Week 15 of 2007, when Kyle Orton replaced Rex Grossman. That’s another indictment of the club’s serial mismanagement of the position.
Pace referred to “dangerous waters” when discussing free agency in February, and the Bears stumbled again by paying running back Mike Davis $3 million this season. A plan to use him never materialized. At least he was released in time to potentially net a compensatory draft pick.
Tight end Trey Burton was guaranteed $22 million when he signed in 2018, and the Bears paid tight end Dion Sims $12 million for two seasons. The club’s swing in free agency in 2017 — signing Glennon, Sims, wide receiver Markus Wheaton, safety Quintin Demps and cornerback Marcus Cooper — was a colossal failure. They earned $44.5 million combined.
In Pace’s defense, he inherited a roster with more holes than he could fill via the draft, and he has done well with free-agent additions such as inside linebacker Danny Trevathan, cornerback Prince Amukamara, right tackle Bobby Massie and return specialist Cordarrelle Patterson.
The Bears may very well need to consider free agency at quarterback this offseason. They run the risk of a disastrous 2020 season if the offense struggles similarly under Trubisky. There will be other spots to consider in free agency as well, but the Bears have proved over the last decade that winning in March doesn’t translate to playing the following January.