Bears mailbag: Sign DeAndre Hopkins? Free-agent targets at edge, OL?

Bears mailbag: Sign DHop? Free-agent targets at edge, OL? originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

The Bears enter their second week of OTAs with plenty of buzz and optimism surrounding a team hoping to start a lengthy ascent out of the NFL basement.

But while the excitement is overflowing here in May, there are still myriad questions surrounding Year 2 of the Ryan Poles-Matt Eberflus regime.

So, let's tackle a few of them in the latest offseason mailbag.

The thought of adding DeAndre Hopkins to DJ Moore, Darnell Mooney, and Chase Claypool is understandably intriguing. Even at 30, Hopkins is still one of the best receivers in the NFL when healthy.

The Bears have the money to overpay to acquire his services, but I don't think a union makes sense for either side.

For Hopkins, he will want to play for a contender with an established star at quarterback. The Clemson product already named Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, and Justin Herbert as the five quarterbacks he would like to catch a pass from, and he also stated his desire to play for a team with a good defense.

Hopkins should also want to go somewhere that will allow him to showcase his value and set him up for at least one more big contract next offseason.

The Bears threw the ball an average of 20 times per game last season, and quarterback Justin Fields averaged just 150 yards through the air per game. While it's fair to expect a leap from Fields as a passer, the Bears are a run-first team that might not give Hopkins the number of targets he'll want or deserve.

From the Bears' perspective, Poles already made his big wide receiver move when he acquired Moore in a trade with the Carolina Panthers. Spending a large chunk of the Bears' remaining salary cap space on Hopkins doesn't jive with Poles' patient rebuilding plan. It would make sense if the Bears were one piece away from legitimate contention. But they are at least a year away from being a realistic postseason threat, so throwing money at Hopkins likely isn't in Poles' plans.

As for your take, I think the Bears would be happy if Fields finished the season with 30 total touchdowns and 3500-3700 total yards. The goal is not to run him as much and let his arm do more of the work. They still need to utilize his legs, but 30 passing touchdowns and 1,000 rushing yards is a high ceiling. If he meets it, he'll be in the MVP discussion.

If the Bears don't bring in another interior offensive lineman before camp (more on this later), Whitehair will win the competition.

He has to.

The Bears' goal is to find the "best five" offensive linemen, and I don't see a world where you can convince me Lucas Patrick is part of that equation if everyone is healthy.

The addition of Nate Davis means that Teven Jenkins has to kick over to left guard. Jenkins was the team's best offensive lineman last season, so the Bears must find a role for him. Whitehair was average last season but was a good center the last time he manned the position in 2020.

Patrick struggled at guard last season, and I have a hard time seeing him be that much better at center. He's an OK depth piece but nothing more.

As a caveat, I'm going to remove DJ Moore and Darnell Wright from the running. We got our first look at Moore during last week's OTA practice, and it's clear that he will be a game-changer for the Bears' offense as long as they can get him the ball. He's just different.

My feelings about Wright are well-documented. I think he'll be the Bears' best offensive lineman by the time the season ends.

Taking those two off the board, I have two answers: Tremaine Edmunds and Tyrique Stevenson.

It's fair to be skeptical of the Bears' decision to give Edmunds a Brinks truck full of money without the ball production to back it up. But the size, length, and athleticism are impressive. Putting him in the middle of Matt Eberflus' defense makes sense once you see it in action. Edmunds will clog the passing lanes and be able to use his length to help generate takeaways.

It appears Stevenson will have to work his way up the depth chart. The second-round pick worked on the second field for most of the OTA session, while the ones ran 7-on-7 and 11-on-11. But I was impressed by Stevenson's length, physicality, and coverage ability during rookie minicamp. I expect him to be the starting outside corner opposite Jaylon Johnson in Week 1. He has the chance to be a fan favorite with his personality, ball skills, and toughness.

I'm not concerned about any newcomers yet. Gervon Dexter is the obvious choice because he was the No. 53 overall pick, and there's a chance third-round pick Zacch Pickens will have a bigger impact in Year 1 than Dexter.

The Bears are already working to rebuild Dexter from the ground up. That's a process that will take time. He has all the physical tools to be a disruptive three-technique, but he might be more of a run-stopping nose this season as the Bears refine his technique.

If we're defining "make-or-break" as in Fields could be out after the season if things don't go according to plan, I would say no.

But it is a "make-or-you're-on-notice" season. That doesn't have the same ring to it.

After this season, the Bears have to know if they want to exercise Fields' fifth-year option and start negotiations on a long-term deal. If Fields stumbles this fall and it's his fault and not due to injuries or underperformers at critical positions, then the Bears will have to take a long look at declining the fifth-year option as the New York Giants did with Daniel Jones before last season.

That would have Fields enter a contract season in 2024, and the Bears likely would bring in someone to compete for the starting job to try to push Fields to the next level.

I think it's almost always smart business to pick up the fifth-year option unless there's a long-term health issue or the quarterback has just flat-out stunk. Fields doesn't meet either of those requirements at the moment. I'd think he'd have to be pretty bad this season for the Bears to decline the option. They don't want to get into the same pickle as the Giants. New York declined Jones' fifth-year option and then ended up having to sign him to a four-year, $160 million contract instead of having the luxury of seeing Jones back up his career season before a big payday.

The Bears invested heavily in Fields this offseason. He has to make a big leap as a passer to cement himself as a franchise quarterback. But even if the leap is more of a hop, he'll almost certainly still be the starter in 2024.

He'd have to crater this fall for the Bears to end the experiment entirely. But a bad season will cause a chain reaction of events the Bears would rather not have to navigate next offseason.

The easy answer is we don't know. The Bears think he has that potential, and Poles will give him a lot of rope to prove he's a franchise building block.

But Jones has to show he got stronger during his first full NFL offseason and that the bullrush won't be as big of an issue as it was during his rookie campaign.

I think Jones is in the semi-prove-it box. The Bears want to see growth. There will still be hiccups, but if the arrow points up after the season, Jones will retain his job. But if he has issues against the bullrush and gives up another 40-plus-pressure, seven-sack season, they will have to bring in competition next offseason.

The Bears aren't done adding players. At least, they shouldn't be.

You hit on the two key areas that need to be addressed.

The edge rushers have been talked about ad nauseam. Yannick Ngakoue would be a good fit. He has registered at least eight sacks in every season of his career. While he adds little in terms of run defense, he will get to the passer.

After Ngakoue, there are several options out there that could interest the Bears. I like Justin Houston, but he'll be looking at a contender. Frank Clark might make sense, but I'm not sure he's the perfect scheme fit. I really like Dawuane Smoot. He has had at least 32 pressures and six sacks in each of the past three seasons and won't break the bank.

Poles also said the Bears are looking at trade opportunities. If that's the Bears' route, Bryce Huff could be an intriguing option, given the Jets' plethora of pass-rushers.

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The lack of offensive line depth is flying under the radar. The "best five" got better, but it's not a pretty picture after that. The Bears need to add an interior offensive lineman and a tackle.

There aren't a lot of good options out there at tackle. Taylor Lewan is probably the biggest name, but he has struggled with injuries and hasn't said if he plans to play in 2023. Could the Bears call Jason Peters and see if he is interested in being a "break glass in case of emergency" option behind Jones and Wright? It might be their best option.

On the interior, I think the Bears should have brought in center Chase Roullier in the second the Washington Commanders cut him. Roullier is a good wide-zone center who has dealt with injuries the past couple seasons. Bringing him in would allow the Bears to shift Whitehair into a swing guard/center role, giving them key depth on the interior and bumping Patrick and Ja'Tyre Carter down the depth chart.

Dalton Risner is the best guard on the open market, but he's not a scheme fit for the Bears.

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