The Chicago Bears have done a solid job this offseason of upgrading their roster. After going 3-14 last season, general manager Ryan Poles knew he had his work cut out for him, but he did as good of a job as anyone could have expected.
Armed with the most cap space in the NFL, Poles was aggressive in free agency addressing needs on the roster. He addressed the run defense by signing linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards. The offensive line responsible for keeping Justin Fields clean was upgraded in a major way with Nate Davis signing in free agency and Darnell Wright being selected in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Chicago landed the No. 1 pick and turned that into wide receiver D.J. Moore in a trade with the Carolina Panthers, further bolstering the supporting cast around Fields. He wasn’t the only pass catcher acquired, as the Bears also signed tight end Robert Tonyan.
In the backfield, D’Onta Foreman was signed to replace David Montgomery and the team drafted Roschon Johnson out of Texas. They will combine to make a strong trio with Tarik Cohen, but could there be more help on the horizon?
According to Adam Thompson of Bookies.com, the Bears are the favorites to land running back Joe Mixon should the Cincinnati Bengals opt to move on from him. The Bengals remain the overall favorites to land him with odds of -150, while the Bears’ odds are set at +650. That means Chicago has an implied probability of 13.3 percent to land Mixon.
“For multiple reasons, the Chicago Bears are part of nearly every player odds piece out there,” Thompson wrote. “They not only have more cap space than any other team, [but] they also have more needs than just about any other team, hence their “earning” of the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Mixon would be RB1 on a Chicago offense lacking weapons.”
If Mixon is released and seeks the most money possible, the Bears will be at the top of his list. Despite their spending spree this offseason, they still have the most remaining cap space in the NFL.
Alas, it is hard to imagine Chicago having an interest in bringing in Mixon. Adding more veterans to the mix certainly wouldn’t be a bad strategy for a younger team looking to make some strides, but Mixon’s fit is an odd one.
The Bears already have what seems like a capable trio of running backs with diverse skill sets. However, Foreman did only sign a one-year, $3 million deal. If the Bears happen to believe that Mixon is an upgrade on him, that isn’t too hard of a commitment to move on from.
