The Chicago Bears have made some big upgrades to their roster this offseason. Armed with the most cap space in the league and the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, general manager Ryan Poles had a lot of assets to work with. He certainly made the most of them.
Poles ended up trading the No. 1 pick to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for four draft picks and wide receiver D.J. Moore. In free agency he was aggressive, signing linebackers T.J. Edwards and Tremaine Edmunds and offensive guard Nate Davis. D’Onta Foreman will be taking over the backfield from David Montgomery, who signed with the Detroit Lions.
While the talent on the roster has certainly been upgraded, there is still plenty of work remaining to do. This isn’t a one-year rebuild for Poles, as Chicago had one of the weakest rosters in the NFL during the 2022 season.
The 2023 NFL Draft will provide them a chance to continue bolstering that roster. Their defense remains in need of upgrades and they are leaving no stone unturned. As important as hitting on the early picks is, being able to find quality depth later on in the draft or from undrafted free agents is also important.
The Bears have their sights set on two players that may qualify for the latter. One player to keep an eye on is Indiana safety, Devon Matthews. Matthews is projected to be a late Day 3 pick and could slip out of the draft altogether, but he has already had multiple pre-draft meetings.
One of them came with the Bears, while he has also met with the New York Giants, Tennessee Titans and Houston Texans. Matthews brings physicality as a run defender and has a ton of experience playing 49 games for the Hoosiers.
Another name to keep an eye on is Justin Ford out of Montana. Ford has elite size for a cornerback, standing 6’2” and met with a ton of teams at the Hula Bowl, including the Bears. The Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles, Buffalo Bills and more all were in touch with Ford there.
Ford led college football with nine interceptions last season as a true playmaker in the secondary. He is one of the top FCS players in this year’s draft class and while he has some things to work on, as opposing offenses will test him deep, the playmaking and ball skills are enough to get NFL teams interested in bringing him in.
