Not every free agent is a fit for Chicago

Speculation is a fun part of writing about sports, and adding discussion topics for you guys is an offseason must, but it’s important to keep in mind that not every pending free agent or released veteran is going to be a fit for the Chicago Bears.

The Carolina Panthers have released tight end Greg Olsen, and the immediate clamor to ‘bring him home’ to Chicago started amongst some fans. While I was just as irked by Mike Martz’s offense forcing the Olsen trade in 2011 as anyone, the 2020 version of the Bears offense doesn’t really have a need for a 35-year old tight end that has injury issues the last three years.

Could Olsen turn it around and bounce back to his Pro Bowl form this year? I suppose anything is possible, but adding a player like Olsen seems more like a luxury at this point. The Bears need a viable option at the position after Trey Burton and Adam Shaheen limped through last season, so adding another player with questions isn’t the best course of action.

The Bears need young talent at tight end, not nostalgia.

Another popular name making the rounds on Bears’ Twitter is Vic Beasley, whom the Atlanta Falcons announced they don’t want anymore.

Beasley was the guy that went one pick after the Bears drafted Kevin White in 2015, so he’s been a player a lot of us have thought about through the years.

During his five year career, the 27-year old Beasley has racked up 37.5 sacks, with 15.5 coming in his Pro Bowl season of 2016, but Atlanta hasn’t been happy with his overall development.

He’s likely to get a nice contract to rush the passer, but I hope it’s somewhere other than Chicago.

He may have more quarterback sacks than current Chicago outside linebacker Leonard Floyd, but from an overall pressure rate, the two players are close to equal.

Floyd’s inability to finish at the quarterback has been a problem during his career, but his overall game has developed since being the ninth pick of the 2016 NFL Draft. Floyd is a better football player than Beasley is, but I can see the allure that Vic brings.

Sacks are the sexy stat of pass rushers and Beasley has Floyd on that by a wide margin. Floyd's 5th-year option at over $13 million adds to fans wanting him gone, but him leaving would create a hole on the roster that Beasley couldn’t fill, and I can’t see the Bears adding Beasley as a third outside linebacker due to some other team’s willingness to pay him like a starter.

The Bears are going to address both of these positions in either free agency or the draft (or both), but these aren’t the players to do it with.