Bears expect to receive first compensatory draft pick in 11 years
INDIANAPOLIS - At least one of Bears fans' long national nightmares is over.
For the first time in 11 years, their team expects to be on the receiving end of a compensatory draft pick, Ryan Pace said Tuesday morning from the NFL scouting combine. The Bears' general manager said that in addition to their own picks in Rounds 2, 6 and 7, the Bears are projecting additional picks in Rounds 6 and 7, and a compensatory pick in Round 4, giving them a total of eight after making an NFL-low five selections last year.
The annual distribution of compensatory picks is decided by the NFL Management Council via a complex formula, but the easiest interpretation is that rewarded teams lose more or better compensatory free agents than they sign in the previous offseason. While the official announcement has yet to be made, the Bears anticipate receiving a fourth-round compensatory pick for the free agent departure last year of S Adrian Amos to the rival Green Bay Packers on a four-year, $36 million contract.
That makes Pace the Bears' first general manager armed with a comp pick since Jerry Angelo in 2009, when Angelo spent a third-rounder on Oklahoma WR Juaquin Iglesias.
After leading the NFL in spending two years ago with the blockbuster acquisition of Khalil Mack and overhaul of Mitch Trubisky's supporting cast en route to a surprise 12-4 division title campaign in Matt Nagy's first season, Pace replaced Amos with former Pro Bowler Ha Ha Clinton-Dix on a one-year deal worth $3 million. He also signed fellow starting defensive back, nickel Buster Skrine, to a three-year, $16.5 million contract ($8.5 million guaranteed) in place of Bryce Callahan, who followed former Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to Denver.
Additionally, Pace signed Pro Bowl returner Cordarrelle Patterson and reserve RB Mike Davis, among a few others, in his most measured free agency to date in his five-plus year tenure. Of course, the measured offseason preceded a middling 2019 in which the Bears fell to 8-8 and a third-place finish in the NFC North, creating more questions than answers about Nagy's offense, especially quarterbacked by Trubisky.
Indeed, the Bears have a lot of work to do if they're to return to the playoffs in 2020 for only the second time in a decade. And if there were any doubts regarding Pace's desire to return Chicago to the comp pick party, they were removed when Davis was released in November after only seven games, despite earning more than $2.5 million for producing only 47 yards from scrimmage on 18 touches. A failed signing, to be sure, but Pace cutting bait quickly helped lock in an extra pick ahead of a second consecutive offseason when his Bears have among the league's fewest resources.