Bobby Massie and Danny Trevathan sign with the Chicago Bears
By jonfox
Add the Chicago Bears to the list of teams who decided to splash some cash. Coming off a disappointing season and an uncertain future on the offense with the defections of Matt Forte(to the Jets) and offensive coordinator Adam Gase(to coach the Dolphins), they needed to reinforce both the linebacker corps and the offensive line.
The Bears did spend some cash but compared to some of the other deals handed out this week, the combined 46 million for both these players looks relatively thrifty. They still need help at inside linebacker and left tackle(where it’s assumed that Kyle Long will be moving out to left tackle, which might not be a good idea) but they took positive steps with these moves.
Head coach John Fox drafted Trevathan in Denver and he should know him almost as well as anyone else so this is a good sign for the move. Massie has always been an underrated right tackle but the Cardinals drafted his replacement in DJ Humphries a season ago. They hate to see him leave, but with their cap situation a 6 million a year on average contract is just too much to justify for them.
The Broncos are now stuck replacing yet another defensive starter. Some pundits might second guess their decisions this offseason, but keeping Von Miller in place and enjoying their new Super Bowl trophy will be worth a dozen such offseasons.
So how will this effect all the teams’ draft plans:
For the Bears: They have a decision to make, either they can draft a left tackle high, keep Long at guard and have more talent on the entire line or use that draft pick on the defensive line or secondary where they could use more talent and hope that Long and Massie at tackle is enough. This would also seem to eliminate a linebacker like Myles Jack from their plans for now.
For the Cardinals: Reportedly, if they kept Massie their plan was to move Massie to Guard so that Cooper plays Center. They’ll need a new plan but it appears that Cooper is still moving over to Center for them. This would seem to indicate that Guard is now a draft priority for them, probably not in round 1 but in round 2 or 3.
For the Broncos: It’s just another hole that Elway has to fill this offseason. Trevathan was a consistently good performer for their defense so replacing him probably will be tough. With only five linebackers on the roster right now(and Brandon Marshall a RFA), they’ll be looking for a free agent bargain at linebacker or try to find another 6th round contributor like Trevathan was for them.