Bears do need to take a big swing, but not necessarily at quarterback
Bears fans and a fair segment of NFL media are drooling over the possibility of the team taking a big swing at quarterback in the coming weeks, either trading for Russell Wilson or Deshaun Watson, or trading up in the first round of the draft to take one of the top prospects.
The thinking is the Bears have to improve in 2021 by winning more than eight games, making the playoffs again and winning at least one playoff game - if not more - for general manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy to save their jobs.
Improving the quarterback position is certainly one of the ingredients necessary for the Bears to take a step forward this year, but acquiring Wilson or Watson is not the only way to do that. No one believes any of this year's top draft prospects other than Trevor Lawrence are plug-and-play, playoff-level Day 1 starters, and the cost to acquire any of those options would almost certainly prohibit the team from fixing all it needs to fix.
That doesn't mean there isn't a big swing out there the Bears could take that could be doable, and get them to the playoffs winner's circle.
Significant improvement at left and right tackle would improve the play and production from the quarterback position regardless of whether it was Nick Foles, Mitch Trubisky or someone else.
It would also improve the running game and expand Nagy's playbook significantly.
And unlike the quarterback position it could be done either in free agency without giving up anything but money, or in the draft with one first- or second-round pick rather than the haul the Bears would have to send to Seattle or Houston in a trade.
The Bears should attack left tackle in free agency where there is one "big swing" available, leaving their top three draft choices to either add a second tackle or address quarterback, safety, depth on the defensive line, wide receiver and special teams - in other words, improving the whole team not just one position.
San Francisco's unrestricted free agent Trent Williams will turn 33 the week before training camp open. He has been to eight Pro Bowls in his 10 NFL seasons, and appeared to still be at his peak in 2020. He could stay there another two, three or four seasons.
Along with the improvement the group showed over the last third of 2020 once Sam Mustipher and Alex Bars were ensconced at center and guard and Cody Whitehair returned from injury, a healthy return for James Daniels and any kind of competent addition at right tackle (a spot Bars should be allowed to compete for) - the arrival of Williams could make one of the NFL's worst offensive lines in 2020 one of its best beginning this season.
The problem is Williams is the only tackle in free agency worth bending over backward for, and may just land the biggest contract at any position during this free agent cycle.
The Bears are about $20 million over the salary cap. By releasing Charles Leno, Anthony Miller, Joel Iyiebugniwe and Javon Wims they would save $9.2 million. By signing Allen Robinson to a long-term deal and restructuring the contracts of Khalil Mack, Robert Quinn, Kyle Fuller, Akiem Hicks, Eddie Jackson, Whitehair and Jimmy Graham, they could save another $35 million or more, enough to re-sign say Tashaun Gipson, Cairo Santos, Cordarrelle Patterson, Brent Urban and Patrick O'Donnell, add a veteran QB, take that one big swing in free agency, and still have their first three picks to continue to address their other serious needs and have all their future first-round picks in hand.
For this to work the big swing has to be at Williams and not Wilson, Watson or another first-round quarterback prospect history tells us is likely to fail.
As much as the Bears need to get better at quarterback, they need to get better up front even more. Williams, whose nickname is Silverback, might be their silver bullet.
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