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This morning, Jimmy Kempski tweeted this:
Number of 30+ year old players, per NFL team: pic.twitter.com/LrXyGzkqfM
— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) April 6, 2015
For verification purposes, let's take a look at the Chicago Bears roster. We see, indeed, 14 Bears players over that magical age...
- Jared Allen (DE)
- Robbie Gould (K)
- Jeremiah Ratliff (DT)
- Thomas Gafford (LS)
- Will Montgomery (C)
- Antrel Rolle (S)
- Jay Cutler (QB)
- Tim Jennings (CB)
- Alan Ball (CB)
- Jermon Bushrod (OT)
- Ray McDonald (DE)
- Zach Miller (TE)
- Ryan Mundy (S)
- Dante Rosario (TE)
And that list will grow by two more starters during this upcoming season, as both Matt Forte and Willie Young will turn 30.
The age of the Chicago Bears is not a new topic, and we all know that we are in the current roster situation thanks to the decisions made by the previous regime. To be fair, Jerry Angelo hadn't set Phil Emery up for success, from a drafting perspective, and Phil Emery didn't set Ryan Pace up from a free agency perspective.
However, Pace seems to be making progress, and doing so rather quickly.
A list of transactions over the last few weeks (snippet from ESPN transaction tracker):
Pace is plugging holes, and at least starting to get out of the danger zone area from a personnel perspective.
Of course, the Draft this month will greatly affect the roster, and Pace needs to find at least two players that will start immediately, if not three.
Stay tuned...