Chicago Bears Mailbag: The Kareem Hunt conundrum and more

The Chicago Bears mailbag has been on hiatus the past few weeks but with the offseason at hand, it felt appropriate to get in one more round of questions.

Surprisingly there’s still plenty to talk about. The Bears are in the midst of making sweeping changes to their defensive coaching staff after the departure of Vic Fangio. The possibility of big changes at running back. Pending free agents. A limited amount of draft picks. All of that and more will be discussed in what’s to come.

@Rickdaruler773
Which of the Bears UFAs would be your biggest priority to re-sign?

To me, there are three big fish that the Bears have to deal with: cornerback Bryce Callahan, safety Adrian Amos, and right tackle Bobby Massie. All played well this past season and have earned extensions. The issue is the Bears aren’t swimming in cap space so they may have to be judicial about who they pay. To me the top priority is Massie.

While he’s not a star, he played really well and shouldn’t be too expensive to keep. There is also the fact that the free agent market doesn’t look promising for possible replacements and the Bears have no 1st or 2nd round picks to find help in the draft. After that, I would put Callahan next. A team can never have enough good corners who can cover. Despite his injury issues, this new Bears system under Chuck Pagano will demand guys like him.

That leaves Amos. Personally, I’ve never been a huge fan of his. He’s a good player but I think one would classify him as replaceable. Don’t get it wrong. If the price isn’t exorbitant, they should absolutely keep him, but if he’s aiming for a big payday I believe the Bears would survive just fine without him.

@mrpchvz
Is the draft deep enough for Pace to find hidden gems in areas we need (starters or depth)? I’m hoping for OL, DL and DBs.

It’s still early in the process but initial impressions for me is this will be a year for teams to find defensive help. The defensive line class is quite literally stacked with talent. That goes for both edge rushers and interior guys as well. There is a legitimate chance the Bears could land a 1st round talent with their 3rd round pick if a few things bounce their way. The offensive line and defensive backs aren’t great but it’s a solid group at both positions. Gems could definitely surface.

I would say the most loaded positions at this point are the defensive line and tight end with wide receiver and quarterback being the two that could be problematic. If such holds true, that’s great news for the Bears.