Bears have upgraded NFL’s worst roster, but more work is necessary

The Bears probably don’t have the worst roster in the NFL anymore, but they still have a long way to go in their rebuild even after several quality additions.

Former Bills linebacker Tremaine Edmunds was the most notable and expensive player they picked up, signing a four-year, $72 million contract, and injecting him and fellow new linebacker T.J. Edwards from the Eagles should make an immediate difference for one of the league’s weakest run defenses.

The Bears couldn’t stop anybody last season. Now they have key players from two of the top defenses in the league.

And their crew of wide receivers looks better than it has in years after landing D.J. Moore from the Panthers in the haul they got for the No. 1 overall pick. They’re not overwhelming, but the trio of Moore, Darnell Mooney and Chase Claypool is good and has high potential. All have strong seasons on their résumés, and at 25 or younger, none has maximized his potential yet.

All three are unpredictable, but it’s a worthwhile bet by general manager Ryan Poles.

Those are good moves that shore up critical weaknesses. But the Bears went 3-14 last season. They have a ton of weaknesses. And as the first wave of free agency settles down, Poles still is looking at a long list of unsolved problems.

The offensive line was a major issue, and all they’ve done is pick up four-year starting guard Nate Davis from the Titans. At $30 million over three years, Davis got more money than the Bears paid any free agent last season.

Davis played right guard for the Titans but could move to left if the Bears opt to slide guard Cody Whitehair to center. That was his original position when the team drafted him in the second round in 2016.

But coach Matt Eberflus said last month that all five starting jobs were open, which is logical given that his team allowed the fourth-most sacks and the fifth-most pressure last season.

And the Bears’ pass rush is nowhere near fixed merely by signing defensive end DeMarcus Walker. It’s certainly a start. Walker had a career-high seven sacks last season; no Bears defensive lineman had more than three.

The Bears also are still in search of the game-changing defensive tackle Eberflus has coveted — they thought they had one when they agreed to a deal with Larry Ogunjobi last year, but that fell through — and help in the secondary.

And that list is based on the premise that quarterback Justin Fields and tight end Cole Kmet are poised to make substantial strides.

Poles will continue adding players he thinks are undervalued by other teams in the second and third waves of free agency, but his next big swing likely will come in the draft.

The Bears lost some of their leverage by trading down from No. 1 to No. 9, but they’re still picking high enough to land an immediate starter who could develop into a star. Clemson defensive tackle Bryan Bresee and defensive end Myles Murphy make sense, as does Northwestern left tackle Peter Skoronski.

Future stars can be found in any round of the draft, but it gets tougher the later it gets. With the 53rd, 61st and 64th picks, though, Poles should be able to find starting-caliber talent to fill other holes. In the last 25 drafts, there were 79 future Pro Bowl players selected between Nos. 50 and 65.

Even with a wealth of resources this year, it’s still going to take at least one more offseason to vault the Bears into contention. And thanks to the trade with the Panthers and Poles’ restraint in free agency, he’ll go into next offseason similarly situated with salary-cap space and draft capital. But that will only matter if the moves he makes this offseason pay off.