Javon Hargrave and Daron Payne represent the top two defensive tackles in free agency, and the Chicago Bears should look to sign both of them.
The Chicago Bears can rebuild their defense in one off-season and can do it for a rather cheap cost. The franchise tag money for a defensive tackle is $18.9-million. If the Bears want to they can sign both Javon Hargrave and Daron Payne for the cost of one defensive tackle and Roquan Smith. A Roqan Smith extension was in the price range of one defensive tackle and with Smith no longer a part of the equation and the Chicago Bears in need of defensive line help adding the top two free agents is within the range of what the Bears can afford while not ignoring other positions of importance.
In addition to signing the top two defensive tackles, the Bears could draft Will Anderson Jr. This is not a knock on Jalen Carter, but a recognition that there isn’t a lot of free agency depth at the edge rusher spot. The best edge rusher available likely isn’t as good as Will Anderson Jr coming out in the NFL draft. The Chicago Bears could also bring back Justin Jones as a rotational defensive tackle in a backup role and truly solidify their front four in one off-season.
No it’s not advocating for a return to the defense being the primary driver of the Chicago Bears on Sunday, but a recognition of need, cost and value. The WR market in free agency is slim and it’s just as slim in the draft. The best receiver in the draft may not be better than Chase Claypool so it wouldn’t be an upgrade to trade down and then draft players you hope can contribute.
The Chicago Bears have only a three-year window left to compete with Justin Fields before he commands a large contract extension and needs to maximize cap space and value now. Hoping to develop a player at the number nine overall spot or even further back doesn’t get as much value. Waiting to draft and develop a player in 2024 does nothing to increase the odds of winning with Fields now.
So adding both Javon Hargrave and Daron Payne seem like the most logical step towards helping the Bears win within the window of Fields’ rookie deal. The Bears are behind the curve on Fields in a big way. Ryan Poles failed in a big way in trying to add players in Fields’ second year. Now heading into Fields’ third year the hope is the Bears can develop enough chemistry on offense to bolster the odds of winning. A tall task indeed.
So adding Hargrave as a 3-technique and Payne as a 1-technique in the 4-3 would be the best way to help bolster the Bears’ defense while hoping a healthy Claypool and Darnell Mooney and St. Brown can keep the Bears scoring points like they did from week 7-11. Both defensive tackles went over 10 sacks on the season and would bolster both the run defense and the pass rush.
After adding Hargrave and Payne in free agency, the Bears can draft Will Anderson Jr first overall. That would bolster their pass rush and help the young secondary to continue to build chemistry. Unfortunately the 2023 NFL Draft is not deep at wide receiver or at the offensive line positions. So the focus should be adding two starters on defense in free agency and then drafting the most impactful player in the draft in Will Anderson Jr. Then by all means shift the focus to building up the offense with anything left over.
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