SI: NFL's Top Unrestricted Free Agents

Forte + Bowie or V.J. + Mario + spend the whole draft on blockers= Super Bowl Shuffle.

I view free agency, this year, as an opportunity to fill glaring holes so that we can be in a position to draft the best available. My other criteria is age. We can’t keep adding older players to an already “vintage” core – we have to get players in their mid-late twenties, who can both help up now and also when this generation of Bears stars retires. The key areas, to me, are WR and DE.

I’d say the primary one is WR. Duh. And there are three players to target who are between 25-28, all of whom have multiple 1000 yard seasons and size (6’2-6’4): S. Johnson, Colston, and Bowe. Does it particularly matter who we get? I don’t really think that it does, so long as we don’t take Vincent Jackson – who will be 30 when the season begins. The point here being to give Cutler a big (or more to the point, not diminutive) WR that will remain in his prime for years to come.

As for DE, again, there’s three age-compatible options: Williams, Campbell, and Avril. Between Avril and Williams I actually think we have a better chance at Mario – not only is he coming off an injured year, the Texans are well above the cap, and his replacement played lights-out all year. Again the essential point is to avoid Robert Mathis. How good would it feel, in three years, when Peppers starts to talk retirement, to have Mario Williams to build around? Nearly as good as seeing them on the field together for the next three years.

Success in today’s NFL is predicating on throwing the ball and hitting the quarterback. Those are our biggest needs. And before we start throwing the offense line under the bus, I’d like to evaluate their play under an offensive coordinator who isn’t sitting behind the wheel himself. They got no help from Martz. Nil. Zed. So, to my way of thinking, I’d rather see a boatload of money thrown at Mario Williams than, say, Carl Nicks.

Young FA WR, young FA DE, and then the best available each and every round.

I would love to see Bowe, Nicks, Finnegan, and Mario Williams all on the Bears. Might cost just a tad too much though. Since our track record is terrible at WR and CB I think we should get those two in the FA Market and draft a LB and OL.

he’s too much of a thug on the field.

Very deep FA class and the Bears could really fill a lot of gaping holes if they are willing to spend some money. Would be nice to add a WR, DL, CB or S and add someone on the line. I’m sure they won’t do all of these things but the Bears could definitely field a good team just by signing the right FA’s.