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PHOENIX — The NFL’s spring meetings wrapped up Tuesday evening at the Arizona Biltmore resort in Phoenix where the Chicago Bears remained a hot topic of conversation.
The Bears traded the No. 1 pick in next month’s draft to the Carolina Panthers earlier this month, collecting the No. 9 overall pick plus a second-rounder this year, a first-rounder in 2024 and a second-rounder in 2025. The Bears also added standout receiver DJ Moore in the deal and then became active in free agency, signing 11 new players in the first week.
General manager Ryan Poles acknowledges he still has plenty of work to do in the draft and in the years to come to fully fortify the roster, but the Bears remain pleased with their progress and excited about the opportunities ahead.
Here are 10 notable things we heard in Arizona.
Two of the Bears’ big signings in the first wave of free agency potentially could play middle linebacker — Edmunds, who came from the Buffalo Bills, and former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker T.J. Edwards.
Eberflus said the depth chart at defense will be open for now, but he believes the 6-foot-5, 250-pound Edmunds could find his home in the middle, which would put Edwards at weakside linebacker.
“What the offensive coaches say is just that big body-presence in the middle in between the hashes there, that’s where a lot of the throws go, and it really deters that,” Eberflus said. “(With Edmunds’) size and length, he has tremendous range in there as a pass defender.”
Eberflus said he has loved Edmunds since the linebacker came out of Virginia Tech in 2018. And he thinks Edmunds, who signed a four-year, $72 million contract with the Bears, continued to get better in his five years with the Bills, during which he totaled 565 tackles, 32 tackles for a loss, 18 quarterback hits, 6 ½ sacks and 35 passes defended.
Eberflus craves ball production from his linebackers — and really his entire defense — but Edmunds has only had five interceptions and two forced fumbles in five seasons. Eberflus believes the Bears can get more out of their prized free agent there.
“When you put it on a player’s mind and really start to train a player to take the ball away and then he has that physical attributes that he has — the length and the size and the range — that’s going to come for him,” Eberflus said. “That’s what makes those guys special. The ability to take the ball away is what takes you from a B player to an A-plus player. I really believe that all of our defense can take that step.”
Edwards grew up in Lake Villa and played his high school football at Lakes Community. Tight end Robert Tonyan, an alumnus of McHenry High School, was a devoted Bears fan who loved Brian Urlacher growing up.
Add them to a Bears roster that also includes local products Jack Sanborn (Lake Zurich), Doug Kramer (Hinsdale Central and Illinois) and Cole Kmet (St. Viator and Notre Dame), and Poles says it’s not a coincidence he’s been drawn to players with Bears passion in their blood since youth.
“There’s something to it for me,” Poles said Monday afternoon. “I think when you have pride in your local team that you grew up watching, you knew what this club meant to the city. You saw some good times and some good players and I think you’re a little bit more motivated to perform at a high level and also to lead because you’ve seen guys do it at a high level before you.
“I always like that aspect. I think it just means a little bit more.”
Moore was a key component of the Bears’ trade of the No. 1 pick because he is a young player under contract for three more years who produced consistently with the Panthers despite less-than-ideal circumstances with multiple quarterbacks. And the Bears needed a wide receiver.
Eberflus touted Moore’s route-running skills and ability to get yards after the catch. Poles called him a strong, physical player and said he complements what the Bears have in Chase Claypool, a big body who can move inside and out, and Darnell Mooney, who also can separate and be a vertical threat.
After the Bears acquired Moore, who totaled 5,201 receiving yards and 21 touchdowns in five seasons, Eberflus went out to dinner with the receiver and his family. Eberflus wouldn’t say which restaurant they went to, but said it’s supposed to have an excellent Caesar salad, which Moore tried.
[ [Don’t miss] Who will the Chicago Bears select at No. 9? Brad Biggs’ NFL mock draft 1.0. ]
Also excellent? The vibes Eberflus got from Moore during dinner.
“My first impression of DJ is that he lit up the room,” Eberflus said. “The energy that he brought into the room and that his family brought into the room was just outstanding. And you can feel that light inside of him and the energy that he’s going to bring to our football team.”
The league provided data to teams this week suggesting the ideal window for crossover practices is best as teams ready for their second or third of three preseason games in August. For the Bears, that would earmark the weeks of Aug. 14-19 and Aug. 21-26 as potential target dates.
“Fewer starters year over year are participating in preseason games,” said Jeff Miller, the NFL’s executive vice president of communications, public affairs and policy. “And we’ve seen that there is a benefit at the beginning of the regular season from an injury perspective for players who reach game intensities at some point in the preseason. And joint practices have proven to be a really useful tool for that.
“The data also seems to show that the further back you move the joint practices toward the (regular season), the lower the injury rate during those joint practices and the more beneficial impact they have.”
The Bears were unable to make crossover practices work last summer. But behind the scenes, Poles and Eberflus are pushing to make that part of the preseason itinerary this year, preferably on the road. But with only one preseason road game in 2023, the Bears will have to wait for their schedule to be finalized.
The Bears last held crossover practices in 2021 when they hosted the Miami Dolphins at Halas Hall in the final year of the Ryan Pace-Matt Nagy regime. Pace previously locked the Bears in for crossover practices on the road in Indianapolis in 2015, New England in 2016 and Denver in 2018.
Poles said early in the offseason he wanted to bring back Montgomery, a 2019 third-round draft pick who rushed for 3,609 yards and 26 touchdowns in four seasons for the Bears. But Montgomery instead went to the Lions on a three-year, $18 million contract.
“Players do have a choice,” Poles said. “I thought we communicated well. I thought we negotiated well. At the same time, you don’t always know what’s going on in the background, but I thought we did a good job, we were transparent, we were organized and it just didn’t happen.”
Poles then was asked about Montgomery’s decision to go to an NFC North rival.
“Especially David, right?” Poles said. “He definitely is going to run with a chip on his shoulder, so we’ll be ready for that. Happy for him. He’s a guy I’ve respected since he was at Iowa State and I love the way he runs.”
The Bears instead signed running back D’Onta Foreman, who had a breakout season rushing for 914 yards and five touchdowns with the Panthers in 2022, his fifth year in the league.
“He is a big runner who can really get things downhill and can take it the distance,” Eberflus said. “And he is very competitive. So I’m excited to get him on the field and to let him compete for that position.”
Jenkins made an encouraging transition from tackle to guard last season and showed promising flashes inside. But durability has been an issue since he joined the Bears as a second-round pick in 2021. Jenkins missed the first 11 games of his rookie season after needing back surgery during training camp and was only sprinkled into action late in that year.
Last season, Jenkins missed more than a week of practices at the beginning of training camp with what the coaches said was an injury issue that neither they nor Jenkins would detail. Jenkins was banged up throughout the year, missing four games with hip and neck issues and failing to complete two others.
Over the first 34 games of his career, Jenkins has played more than 50% of the offensive snaps in only 11 games. His durability and dependability will be closely scrutinized in his third year as the Bears make their offensive line plans going forward.
“We track that.” Poles said. “We talk about it.”
Poles said the Bears are always looking to aid players with notable injury histories, examining everything from “pre-hab” to practice lengths and intensities.
The plan right now is to slot Jenkins at left guard with free-agent addition Nate Davis at right guard and bump Cody Whitehair into center. There has been no internal discussion about testing Jenkins back at tackle.
Still, everything with the Bears offensive line remains fluid with plans likely to change some after the draft.
“The best five are going to go out there and play,” Poles said. “Some of those guys are going to have to be a little bit more flexible. But we feel like (we need) the best five, regardless of where someone feels extremely comfortable. If the whole five collectively plays at a high level, then we feel good.”
Reid is admittedly biased, a big believer in Poles after watching him rise through the Chiefs organization.
“Ryan did a great job with us,” Reid said Monday. “He worked his tail off. He was very organized. He’s smart. And I think he’s going to do great with Chicago. What he just did with the trade was big.”
Reid thinks the Bears’ trade return should energize the organization.
“You’re gaining picks,” he said. “And when you gain picks, you gain players. (Ryan) has also shown the trust in the quarterback he has there now (with Justin Fields). And now he gave himself an opportunity to add more players and he didn’t have to move down that far. So they are still in position to get a good football player (at No. 9).”
Walker had a career season for the Titans in 2022, amassing seven sacks and finding his niche as a versatile player who could play both inside and on the edge. That adaptability was attractive to the Bears, who need to inject some juice into their pass rush after finishing last in the NFL in sacks last season.
Walker figures to have a role in that mission, and was labeled by Eberflus as a “hard-charging” defender who “fits our philosophy.”
It can often be awkward to ask a player’s previous coach for a review of his performance and skill set given that organization let him get away. But Vrabel was sincere this week with his positive assessment of Walker and expressed satisfaction the 28-year-old defensive lineman was able to cash in with a three-year, $21 million contract from the Bears.
“He was always coachable and he played hard,” Vrabel said. “And with that, he was able to produce.”
Vrabel emphasized the Titans used Walker most successfully inside, but always appreciated his fire.
“He was always into it,” Vrabel said. “Anytime we gave him a new task or job or role, he was all in. It was never, ‘Well, I’m not sure.’ It was always, ‘Yeah, let’s go. Let’s give it a try.’ I loved his energy at practice.”
Poles traded a valuable second-round pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers in November to acquire Claypool. But the wide receiver had just 14 catches for 140 yards in his first seven games with the Bears.
Eberflus said Tuesday “it’s a little bit unfair for him to come in (midseason) and learn the offense that way and be an expert at it.” But Claypool now has time to get up to speed with both the offense and Fields, and the Bears hope he can emerge from this offseason a steadier contributor.
Eberflus said Claypool is “really diving into the playbook.”
“Really for him, it’s just about learning exactly what we’re asking him to do, with the route running, with the motions,” Eberflus said. “Because we have a lot of motions to our offense and it’s an important piece for him to be able to be effective.”
Eberflus said adding Moore could also benefit Claypool and Mooney.
“Whenever you add skillets, it’s harder to defend,” Eberflus said. “You can’t put your defense in all spots. You can only be strong in so many spots. That’s going to leave an opportunity for another player.”
The NFL approved several rules changes Tuesday. And among the most eye-catching were allowing players to wear the No. 0 to give crowded teams and practice squads more numbers. Offensive and defensive linemen are not eligible to wear it.
Mooney was among the players to take note, retweeting the proposal with eyes emoji.
When asked if he had ever pictured a No. 0 on a Bears jersey, Chairman George McCaskey responded, “No, I haven’t.”
The Bears were among teams that proposed reducing preseason roster cuts to just one day, in which teams must go from 90 to 53. McCaskey noted the rule doesn’t require teams to keep 90 until that day.
“You can make selective cuts as you deem them necessary, but Ryan and Matt said it was helpful to have that kind of flexibility in training camp,” McCaskey said.
“My big concern at that point would be, you know, that’s a lot in a short amount of time. Not so much the decision-making, because I think those decisions kind of reveal themselves over the course of the training camp, but that’s a lot of people to talk to and that’s a lot of difficult conversations.”
