After much speculation and brouhaha the Bears franchise tagged defensive tackle Henry Melton on Friday. Currently his deal is for $8.4 million which does eat up a lot of cap space but that number will most certainly come down when a long term contract is agreed upon. With 6 sacks and 2 forced fumbles to his name from last season this is a deal the Bears needed to get done. Not only is Melton one of the brighter spots on the defensive line he is also a relatively young player and with the amount of Bears defensive veterans that will be exiting the league in the next couple of years Melton is going to become even more valuable as time goes on. Although this could make things more difficult for the Bears come free agency there are other players they could stand to lose first (Kellen Davis anyone?) to free up some extra cash.
