Taking a look at what the Bears have done so far in free agency

The problem with viewing free agency through the lenses of Twitter, talk radio and the internet is the overwhelming majority of what you get is fans basing opinions strictly on what they want with no real focus on what was realistic to expect.

For the Bears to be a better football team/playoff contender in 2020 they need to upgrade their talent at tight end, quarterback, offensive line, pass rush and safety.

Realizing that there are still a lot of free agents out there and a Draft in which they will have seven picks including two 2s to complete the job, let's take an objective look at what they've done so far.

Nick Foles

The Bears did not enter free agency with any expectations of finding a new franchise quarterback.

Like it or not off a huge step forward in 2018 and a big step backward in 2019, 2020 was always going to be the make it or break it year for Mitch Trubisky.

What they need is a player to compete with him, push him and yes, continue to mentor him in the hopes of making the overall quarterback situation better and a player capable of guiding the team to the playoffs himself if Trubisky can't, which clearly Chase Daniel wasn't going to.

Based on the players available Foles was far and away the best option to meet those criteria.

The fourth-round pick they gave up is irrelevant.

Yes Ryan Pace has done some really good things with mid- and late-round picks, but how many have yielded a Super Bowl MVP Quarterback?

Robert Quinn

Pace also needs a professional pass rusher to pair with Khalil Mack. The lack of rush was far and away the biggest single cause of the defense's drop-off from "generational" in '18 to just very good '19 and from 36 takeaways to 19.

With the possible exception of Everson Griffen, who at 33 is three years older and still unsigned, Quinn was easily the best "known" option.

And the cherry on top is that while the structure of these new deals are still uncertain, it appears that even though Pace guaranteed Quinn $30 million, he replaced Floyd's $13.2 million cap hit this year with a $6.1 million hit from Quinn.

This looks like an excellent move right now.

Jimmy Graham & Demetrius Harris

The Graham signing could work out fine but on its face it is really hard to understand and impossible to defend.

Even at 75% or 80% of what the five-time Pro Bowler once was as a receiver he is a downgrade as a blocker over what the Bears currently have.

Harris is fine as a your No. 2 Y, and if reports about his blocking are accurate, it could be why Pace was willing to take a huge flyer on Graham.

These two and Trey Burton are going to be on the roster.

If the Bears use one of their second-round picks on the best tight end in the Draft, this may be salvageable, but short of that Pace is out at the very end of the limb on this one.

Deon Bush

Bush had an excellent 2019 training camp and is worth the minimal risk here, but most of the better safeties in free agency are still available and this is another spot Pace should look at in the second round, but you can find safeties in all seven rounds. Pace isn't done here yet.

Offensive line

The Bears need more and better competition at right guard and left tackle, but this is just not a good year to find those guys in free agency and with their cap limitations, QB, pass rush and TE were more important.

A bigger concern is that new O-line coach Juan Castillo is a step down from Harry Hiestand, although likely a better fit with Matt Nagy.

We have to assume they're not done here and we really shouldn't have expected much before the Draft anyway.

Artie Burns

Burns was taken 16 picks after Leonard Floyd in the first round of the 2016 Draft and quite frankly has been a bust, starting for the Steelers his first 2½ seasons before spending the last year and a half on the bench.

He is a talent that hasn't developed and at this point I'm sure just a lottery ticket at cornerback at a very low cost.

Burns is just a risk worth taking and no lock to make the team.

• Hub Arkush, the executive editor of Pro Football Weekly, can be reached at harkush@profootballweekly.com or on Twitter @Hub_Arkush.