The bears can be competitive next year, depending on the moves they make. Fans have already dissected this, but let's hammer home that prioritizing the $$$ the bears walk into the offseason with is critical based on what appears to now be available vs what will be available in FA, then the draft has to be treated separately, like the positions you cant buy in FA. Simple, right?
DE and DT, particularly 3T can be bought. If the bears want to contend next year, they buy these two spots, ideally Da'Ron Payne and a younger DE like Davenport from NO or Ebukam from SF. Then 2nd/mid-rounds should be more depth for the DL, looking for guys like Brandon Dorlus and DJ Johnson from Oregon, Calijah Kancey from Pitt, Mazi Smith from Michigan, the other DT not named Breese from Clemson, and a few more names that fit the mold of 3T more than NT.
C, for now, looks like it can be bought in FA. But John Michael Schmitz, the OO guy from Michigan (I'm too lazy to find his full name), and the kid Forscythe from Oregon aren't bad early-mid round options.
LT absolutely cannot be bought, and don't @ me with bUt OrLaNdO bRoWn or gIvE bRaXtOn JoNeS cOmPeTiTiOn. Brown turned down Trent Williams money from KC before taking a shit this year with his play. Braxton Jones got exposed again. For a 5th round rookie, he's impressive and you want to root for him given expectation and how much dead cap the bears are eating vs how much they're actually spending on offense this year. But if you're talking starting quality LT, LOL if you think Braxton Jones is one. He isn't. Draft one--and if he has any future at starter in this league in a modern, competent offense--time to move Jones to Guard. 1st round pick for the LT. I get its not sexy for some fans here, but unless the bears do, we're going to see much of the same turnstile play we do this year, especially yesterday. You want a modern offense around Fields, and mostly not to see him get killed on a 3/5 step drop, that's where it starts.
WR depth can be bought, but a true X probably can't be unless you trade big assets for it. Mooney comes back, Claypool you're stuck with and maybe he learns the playbook instead of looking angry throwing his helmet on the sidelines like yesterday when he didn't know his assignment and got benched certain plays. I believe ESB should stay given he's the best blocking WR in football, only costed 4 mil this year and should be about the same, maybe more on a 2-3 year extension. I'd give N'Keal Harry another shot because he's flashed, but he's too inconsistent with the coaches. If he wasn't hurt, he was inactive--and usually that means the coaches know something we dont.
Buying a DT/DE while drafting impact offensive spots like LT/WR/pass catching TE/OC early turns the trajectory of this team around. A playoff team? That's a tall order where health is a huge factor and we just can't predict that now, but it'll be a hell of a lot better than a 3 win team.
