The Chicago Bears made some major changes this offseason to their front office and coaching staff. General manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy were both fired, getting replaced by Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus.
Chicago isn’t in a great place salary cap-wise, so this offseason was spent mostly getting their money in order. That has led to some veterans being traded this offseason, but it has also handcuffed the Bears when it came to adding outside free agents.
One of the biggest areas of need coming into the offseason was at wide receiver. The team has Darnell Mooney operating as their No. 1 receiver, but they are lacking much depth behind him. So, they brought in Byron Pringle from the Kansas City Chiefs and Equanimeous St. Brown from the Green Bay Packers to bolster things.
While they are still lacking that true, go-to wide receiver, they at least added some help around Justin Fields. Upgrading the weapons around him is imperative to helping him on his path of development. Eberflus is confident that Fields will be able to take that next step, and it is important for the long-term outlook of the organization that he does.
Unfortunately for the new regime, they will not have a first-round pick to continue upgrading around Fields. Their 2022 first-round pick was traded to the New York Giants as part of the deal to move up and select Fields 12th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. Despite not having a first-round pick, they are still doing their due diligence when it comes to prospect scouting.
Wide receiver is expected to be a position they look to add some players to via the draft. One of the players that they have shown some interest in is Arkansas pass catcher, Treylon Burks. The Bears and Burks had a meeting at the combine this year.
Without a first-round pick, the Bears may be out of range to select Burks, who many are projecting could go in the late first round. The first time that Chicago will be on the clock will be when the 39th overall pick rolls around.
Despite not having a first-rounder, they will select twice in the second round, as they also picked up the 49th overall pick from the Los Angeles Chargers in a deal for Khalil Mack. It would not be a surprise to see the Bears go for a wide receiver with one of those selections, as they need to continue bolstering their supporting cast offensively for Fields to take the next step in his career.
