Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky attempts a pass during the 2017 home game against San Francisco.
With an energetic offensive-minded head coach and quarterback of the future in place, the Bears appear to be a more appealing free agent destination than they've been in past years.
"I think that's real," general manager Ryan Pace said Feb. 28. "When you look at free agency, for the most part it comes down to the money, to be honest with you. But I think a lot of times when you look at it and you see stability with the coaching staff, you see a quarterback that's in place we feel good about, those are attractive traits when people view our organization."
How much the presence of new coach Matt Nagy and promising young quarterback Mitchell Trubisky helps lure free agents to the Bears won't be officially known until 3 p.m. (CT) Wednesday. That's when the signing period opens in conjunction with the start of the new league year. NFL teams have been permitted to negotiate with the agents of unrestricted free agents since 3 p.m. Monday, however.
Speaking to the media two weeks ago at the NFL Combine, Pace felt the Bears were in good shape to strengthen their team via free agency and the draft.
"It's a big responsibility we have and we always use the words disciplined or calculated," Pace said. "Those are all things that come into play. But we're in good position. We have a lot of cap space, we have a high pick in the draft, we have seven draft picks. We feel like we have a coaching staff we're excited about. We have a quarterback that we want to build around and now we want to make the right decisions the next few months."
Pace understands the importance of making sound, prudent moves in free agency.
"Just because you have cap space doesn't mean you can be reckless with these decisions," he said. "So we have to be strategic, disciplined and calculated as we enter free agency."
