Chicago Bears: Why free agency moves are likely done until May

The Chicago Bears began free agency with a series of calculated moves. None of them particularly splashy, but definite actions to improve the team.

Expectations were that such maneuvers would continue as GM Ryan Pace tries to tweak the formula of a roster that appears capable of going to a Super Bowl. Yet for the past two weeks now, it’s been virtually silent. Their last move of note came on the 14th when they signed Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. Between then and the current date of the 28th, they’ve made only four moves and three of them were re-signing their own players in Nick Williams, Pat O’Donnell, and Tyler Bray.

So what gives? There is no way the Bears can be done making moves at this point. They have 28 roster spots still open. As of now,

they have just five draft picks with no 1st or 2nd rounder. Do they plan on filling those holes with five picks and 23 undrafted free agents? Of course not. There are more signings that must be made. Why then do the Bears continue to seemingly drag their feet when several good players remain available?

There’s actually a very specific reason why they may be waiting, and it has to do with a little-known NFL deadline that has yet to pass.

Chicago Bears free agency pause likely meant to protect compensatory picks

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The process of compensatory draft picks is still a mystery to many fans. They aren’t entirely familiar and it takes a good deal of study to figure out how it works. As things stand, the Bears have suffered a net loss in terms of free agent value this year. Despite the moves they’ve made, the losses of both Adrian Amos and Bryce Callahan appear to have weakened them. This is why they are currently projected to secure 4th and 5th round comp picks in the 2020 draft.

If this comes to pass, it would give the Bears nine picks total. Something that would certainly sound appetizing to Pace. The problem is those picks might be threatened if the team were to continue signing more unrestricted free agents. However, it won’t be like that forever.

Most people don’t know this, but the NFL has a deadline for when free agents stop counting against the compensatory pick formula. It occurs on the second Tuesday after the conclusion of the NFL draft. In this case, that deadline will be May 7th of this year. After that, all free agents still on the market can be signed without any effect on a teams’ comp pick plans for 2020.

Given how slow the market has been lately, it’s possible other teams have the same idea as the Bears. They’re going to wait until the deadline passes before resuming their efforts to secure veteran players to fill out the roster.

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