Pace, Bears still have much to accomplish

The first wave of free agency saw the Bears address their most pressing needs without breaking the bank, but general manager Ryan Pace is quick to admit there's a lot of heavy lifting still to be done.

“We're building this thing going forward. We have a lot of time, guys,” Pace told the media last week after landing a key building block in edge rusher Pernell McPhee for $38.75 million over five years.

“We have a lot of time to continue to build the roster and build the chemistry and build the locker room.”

All of those things were addressed with the addition of safety Antrel Rolle (four years, $11.25 million), who comes with the reputation as a team player and a rock-solid locker-room presence.

Wide receiver Eddie Royal (three years, $15 million) provides the prototypical, productive slot receiver the Bears lacked for several years.

But each of those positions still could see additional upgrades, as evidenced by the Bears' pursuit of Chiefs safety Ron Parker, who re-signed with Kansas City on Saturday for $30 million over five years.

The Bears were financially prudent in dropping out of the bidding for Parker. He's a versatile player with upside, but his contract appears exorbitant for a one-year starter.

Parker's signing was one of a handful over the weekend that is expected to end the first-week feeding frenzy for free agents.

As the pace slows, better bargains are available, and the Bears are expected to continue the process of remaking a 5-11 roster, including a defense transitioning from a 4-3 base to a 3-4.

“This is just the beginning of a lot of great things we're going to do,” Pace said at McPhee's introductory news conference. “We added a disruptive player and we're going to go forward from there.”

Even with McPhee the Bears don't have enough of those disruptive players. So they'll continue to woo players the same way they appealed to the former Raven.

“(It's a) real aggressive approach from management to do the things necessary to win,” coach John Fox said. “The tradition that the Chicago Bears have, the city of Chicago, and the willingness to do whatever it takes to get better.

“It's been an easy sell so far. I think this (team) has a lot to offer, and we'll see moving forward. We're off to a good start.”

Almost all of the big-name free agents are no longer on the market.

But there still are some quality players available who could interest the Bears, including ex-Green Bay cornerback Tramon Williams, ex-Los Angeles Raiders center Stefen Wisniewski and wide receivers Michael Crabtree (San Francisco) and Cecil Shorts (Jacksonville).

There isn't much left from a picked-over group of free-agent safeties that was average to begin with. Also, it's a weak draft for safeties, so the Bears can't get any immediate help there.

There's a steep drop-off after Alabama safety Landon Collins, who should be an opening-day starter somewhere, but he isn't valuable enough to warrant the Bears' seventh overall pick.

The strength of the draft is at edge rusher, defensive line and wide receiver.

Since the Bears traded Brandon Marshall to the New York Jets, there has been a lot of mock-draft speculation that they'll use their first pick on an instant-impact wide receiver if Alabama's Amari Cooper or West Virginia's Kevin White is still on the board.

That would address the need for a wideout capable of taking the top off a defense, since both players are faster than anyone on the Bears' roster. But with Royal expected to play a major role, edge rusher remains a bigger need for the Bears.

There are at least four premier pass rushers considered worthy of consideration at No. 7. Florida's Dante Fowler, Clemson's Vic Beasly, Missouri's Shane Ray or Nebraska's Randy Gregory could all interest the Bears.

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