Chicago Bears earn B+ for trade and early 2023 free agency signings

The Chicago Bears have been one of the busiest teams in the NFL over the first two days of 2023 free agency. General manager Ryan Poles signed four new starters — three on defense and one on the offensive line — and with plenty of spending power left, the Bears probably aren’t finished.

Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds is the big-ticket signing so far (four years, $72 million). He’s an ascending NFL star. He’ll be joined by TJ Edwards (three years, $19.5 million) in the Chicago Bears’ revamped linebacker corps. Defensive lineman DeMarcus Walker (three years, $21 million) will give defensive coordinator Alan Williams inside-outside versatility. Guard Nate Davis (three years, $30 million) might already be the best offensive lineman on the team.

And don’t forget about the trade that sent the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft to the Carolina Panthers for wide receiver D.J. Moore and a haul of draft selections.

Chicago Bears scoring high marks for offseason moves

Poles’ moves have earned high marks across NFL media. CBS Sports gave the Bears a B+ for their trade and the first wave of signings.

“The signings of two inside linebackers Tremaine Edmunds (4 years, $72 million) and T.J. Edwards (three years, $19.5M) will yield a positive impact for the Bears” defense,” CBS Sports” Garrett Podell wrote. However, they could’ve simply extended 2022 First-Team All-Pro linebacker Roquan Smith for a smaller cap hit than those two combined deals and retained one of the best linebackers in football. Instead, they traded him to the Baltimore Ravens.

“The big reasons for the B+ grade is because of how they’ve already helped young quarterback Justin Fields significantly, and the draft hasn’t even started. Signing guard Nate Davis (3 years, $30M) and bringing in underrated, 25-year-old wide receiver D.J. Moore through the unloading of the 2023 NFL Draft’s first pick is a great start to the offseason. The only way to find out if your quarterback is good is to surround him with a real supporting cast, and the Bears are on their way to doing so.”

All of the Bears’ moves have made perfect sense

The Tremaine Edmunds-Roquan Smith narrative is misguided, even if the result was a B+ from CBS Sports. Not all linebackers are built or play the same. For Matt Eberflus’ scheme, Edmunds is a better fit, which is why he got paid, and Smith didn’t.

Davis will bolster the interior of the Chicago Bears’ offensive line. With so much emphasis placed on protecting Justin Fields, Davis was a logical move. He’s an under-the-radar talent who will be thrust onto a bigger stage as one of Fields’ primary protectors.

D.J. Moore is one of the NFL’s most explosive wide receivers who has yet to reach his ceiling because of the limitations he played with in Carolina.That’s about to change. Moore is a field-flipper who could have the same impact in Chicago that A.J. Brown had on Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022.

Ryan Poles began the 2023 offseason under a lot of pressure. He had an embarrassment of riches at his disposal. And like any good investor, he’s flipped them into resources that will pay off now and well into the future. He’s earned every bit of the high grades he’s receiving.