Bears free agency: OLB Aaron Lynch joins on 1-year deal

Having said farewell to Pernell McPhee and Willie Young, the Bears landed an outside linebacker to try to fill the void: Aaron Lynch, who they signed to a one-year deal Thursday.

Drafted in the fifth round of the 2014 draft by the 49ers, Lynch had six sacks as a rookie playing under current Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. He logged 6 1/2 the next year, but has struggled in the last two seasons, appearing in only seven games each in 2016 and 2017. In 2016, he served a four-game suspension after violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy.

The 6-6, 270-pounder started 19 games and recorded 15 sacks in four years with the 49ers. He started his college career at Notre Dame but ended it at South Florida.

Earlier Thursday, general manager Ryan Pace listed his preferences for a free-agent outside linebacker.

“The No. 1 trait you look for in outside linebackers is pass rushers,” he said. “One thing we’ve got to be mindful of, we’re only one day into free agency. There’s so many avenues to continuing to improve our team. There’s still positions of need. We’ll do that.”