The Chicago Bears were active early in free agency, signing pass rusher Pernell McPhee, wide receiver Eddie Royal and safety Antrel Rolle. But it sounds like coach John Fox expects to sign plenty more players in free agency's second wave.
"We have a lot of needs," Fox told the Chicago Tribune upon arrival at the NFL Annual Meeting in Arizona. "There are still a lot of green rectangles on a board. There are still two pools of players. There are still a lot of guys left in (secondary) free agency, which I prefer dealing with anyways, not the jump-out-in-front (signings). When you get it going good, you don't have to do that."
Green rectangles are apparently bad, and Fox's words indicate there will be a lot of bargain hunting in the months ahead. Roster depth is good, and the Bears don't have it at many positions. McPhee adds to a potentially crowded edge rusher position that will be primarily playing at outside linebacker in new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio's 3-4 defense. McPhee, Lamarr Houston, Willie Young and Jared Allen are all slated for snaps. That's a deep group, but Fox sees the rest of this roster with clear eyes.
The Bears need help throughout the secondary, and their defensive line has a lot of question marks. The team also has a quarterback that the organization seems lukewarm about, at best. It doesn't sound that different than when Fox took over the Denver Broncos, with Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow as his quarterbacks.
Fox is doing his best to keep expectations modest this time around, knowing that Peyton Manning is unlikely to fall into his lap in Chicago.
The latest Around The NFL Podcast makes some bold free agency predictions and discusses Adrian Peterson's future. Find more Around The NFL content on NFL NOW.
