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Chicago Bears defensive lineman Nate Collins, who has been filling in admirably for franchised defensive tackle Henry Melton at the 3 technique DT spot, has suffered a torn ACL.
It was just 2 weeks ago that Melton went down with the exact same injury, and now the Bears will need to add to the roster again. In case you were wondering about their salary cap situation, Dan Durkin of the Score tweeted this out.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23bears&src=hash">#bears</a> would have no money available right now had they not restructured peppers and e bennett. have $2.9M free space to use on d-line help.</p>— dan durkin (@djdurkin) <a href="https://twitter.com/djdurkin/statuses/387267673479839744">October 7, 2013</a></blockquote>
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That's not a lot of scratch to sign an impact player, then again, there aren't many quality street free agents sitting out there waiting for a job.
Trading is an option I'm sure general manager Phil Emery will explore, and with the Jacksonville Jaguars fully in "build for the future" mode, they may be willing to talk.
With a short week this week, the Bears may not be able to find someone that will be able to help out for the Thursday night game against the New York Giants. They may be forced to start DE Corey Wootton at DT again this week. Hopefully Stephen Paea will be recovered from his sprained toe, and he'll provide the thinned DT position a boost.
EDIT:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Bears&src=hash">#Bears</a> worked out 3 defensive tackles today: Justin Bannan, Myles Wade & Christian Tupou, who was with them during training camp.</p>— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) <a href="https://twitter.com/BradBiggs/statuses/387324684477284352">October 7, 2013</a></blockquote>
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What are your thoughts on the Bears D-Line situation?