6 BLOCKBUSTER Chicago Bears Free Agent Targets Ft. Christian Wilkins, Derrick Henry & Calvin Ridley

all right guys I got a challenge for you we are trying to get to 89,000 subscribers by the end of Monday we're going to be live Monday for day one of free agency the Lal tampering period so we got some time and Monday show should help us out but I want to get to 89,000 Subs by the time I wake up on Tuesday can we do it if you want free daily Bears content subscribe right now we're 524 Subs away from that Benchmark it would be a huge help to us we greatly appreciate it [Music] I'm Harrison Graham and Chicago Bears now is sponsored by eight sleep if you're looking to improve your sleep metrics well we got the perfect product from you the Pod cover from eight sleep get $200 off at eights sleep.com chatsports tell you more about that product here in just a little bit okay I wanted to take a look at some Blockbuster free agents for for the Chicago Bears three players on offense three players on defense that the Bears could try to sign now Blockbuster kind of big name in some case big impact and others maybe maybe not depends on how these teams view him at this point but we're going to dive into it here let's start with some defensive guys then we'll get to the offensive side of the ball Christian Wilkins who's kind of the big name out there it was a bit of a surprise in NFL circles when the Dolphins did not franchise tag the defense of tackle who was coming off a career year with Miami had a career high in Sachs he's always been a premier run stuffer and I think what's nice about Wilkins 2o is look at the durability he's played in all 17 games over the last three years which for interior alignment on either side of the football is not an easy thing to do um you could argue outside of Kurt Cousins and Chris Jones who has a filming this hasn't resigned but very well could with the Chiefs by the time you watch this is the biggest sexiest splashiest whatever word you want to use Blockbuster free agent on the market and reports suggest that this contract will be massive like I've seen the Baseline 22 million like topping quinnon Williams Jeffrey Simmons all those dudes that signed last year and it makes sense because assuming Chris Jones resigns with Kansas City he's the top interior uh defensive lineman uh the cap went up he is going to have several biders at his Services which br brings us to the Bears will the Bears get in on this and I've thought for a little bit throughout this week like yeah they should be in on it and I'm not saying they shouldn't but they already have three big defensive contracts handed out they gave tand Edmonds four years and 72 million last year they gave Montes SWAT four years and 98 million and they gave Jaylen Johnson just now four years and 76 million sweat and Johnson love the deals Edmonds not a great first year but you know we'll see the good news about his if they really wanted to get out of it next year they could um the point is in the modern NFL do you want to hand out yet another big defensive contract because if we're being real it's time to allocate resources to the offensive side of the football now at the same time the free agency pool is the free agency pool like Christian Wilkins fills a position of need on that defensive tackle position and he's arguably the top free agent available and the Bears have cap space so you're kind of finding that balance of well yeah we need to invest in offense but the free agent pull is better on defense the draft is better for offense so you know if you're kind of projecting ahead 6 weeks from now you can invest more in the draft you have less picks for the draft though now than you once did so it's a tough balance here's what I will say you absolutely can pay Christian Wilkins especially if you end up drafting a quarterback because you have a rookie contract at quarterback for the next four or five years and that's how you can have all these expensive contracts but again I do subscribe to the idea of eventually you want to pay guys on the offensive side of the ball like the Bears have got to catch up with the modern times in a certain extent I have no problem paying Jaylen Johnson it was a hell of a move not paying him would have been a mistake you do do you go out there and do it again I'm not saying no but I'm not like as all in on the idea as I was even two days ago like when I've really sat down and thought about it so I want you guys to chime in here would you give Christian Wilkins over $20 million per year cuz that's what it's going to take type why for yes or type in for no again I'm not saying no I'm just not as all in on the idea as I once was same with denil Hunter white denal Hunter really good player was really all in on this idea as recently as a couple weeks ago the numbers are great like he's a good player I will say this I sat down with Brad Spielberger at the NFL combine he hopped on here and basically said look Hunter's a good player but you look at the advanced numbers the Vikings blitzed a lot gave denil Hunter more one-on-one looks free Lanes at times kind of skewed the stats a little bit now I still like denil I still think he'd be a huge upgrade on this defensive line but I have cooled on him a bit for mostly the same reason of do I want to give out another big contract to a defensive player and especially in Hunter's case he is going to be 30 this next season so you know I I'm not going to be upset if it happens but like I'm not going to be upset if it doesn't if that makes sense like I I look at this defensive line and yes you need another Premier player like it can't just be Mont sweat and a bunch of Misfits I understand understand I like Andrew Billings good run stuffer you know dvon Dexter zap Pickins two young players that have an opportunity to take a year two jump this year we'll see if Justin Jones comes back I think you need to upgrade over Demarcus Walker and make him more of a heavy rotation piece I I think that kind of tier 2 Edge Market though kind of makes more sense maybe like a Bryce Huff we'll see what Jonathan gard's price tag ends up being maybe go get a zidus Smith the Javon CL on a one or twoe deal someone like that chase young I you know I don't love that idea but if you want to go cheaper you could do that so um I again it's just a dangerous game when you just load up big contracts on one side of the football because you're asking young cheap players to overproduce their contracts offensively and eventually the Bears got to hold up their end of the bargain on the offensive side of the ball as well um we can't put so much pressure on whoever the quarterback's going to be so uh got to invest on that side as well today's show is sponsored by eight sleep the new high-tech solution to end your age-old sleeping issues eight sleeps pod 3 covers slips right over your mattress bringing Heating and Cooling technology to keep you comfortable and sleeping deeper for a better more restful night I've had my PO three for a few months now and I've never slept better sleep science shows that in order to sleep our best our body temperature needs to drop in the early and middle part of sleep and then rise again in the morning the Pod cover will improve your sleep by automatically adjusting your bed's temperature based on your individual needs uh it can be added to any bed like a fitted sheet and allows you and your partner to cool or warm your side of the bed by as low as 55 degre up to 110° you love that versatility especially if you have a partner that you sleep with not only does it keep you at the perfect temperature all night the podt also tracks your sleep and health metrics guys this is huge on average users sleep their Sleep Quality improve by 32% after just one month on the Pod you can trust me on that I've been sick the last couple of days this thing has been a lifesaver making me feel fresh here uh coming in to film a few videos 8sleep.com chat sports that/ chat sports get you $200 off go check out the Pod 3 cover from eight sleep it syncs up with an app on your phone you can monitor those metrics link is in the comments and the description at sleep.com chatsports how about Justin Simmons who just hit the free agent Market a couple of days ago the Denver Broncos I would say made one of the more surprising Cuts so far heading into free agency they were in a tricky cap spot so they were going to have to make some sort of moves did not necessarily see this one coming I thought maybe they would restructure I thought a team might even bite on a trade but maybe not considering how many safeties are available I like Justin Simmons a lot he's still really good I know he's 30 now but three picks last year eight pass breakups You could argue this is still a top five free safety in the sport um and obviously the Bears need a free safety jquan br scw is a very good player at strong but with Eddie Jackson gone you don't have a starting caliber player at free safety it's a clear need on this roster uh Elijah Hicks is a fine third safety he's not a starter though but again here I think in this case I I probably would pass for a different reason I love Justin Simmons but there's 10 plus starting caliber safeties on the open market like it's deep guys so like I think Justin Simmons is going to be one of two or three guys that might still get over 10 million per year I can get a guy for 4 million 5 million that's 75 80% of the player and look obviously you want the best of the best but you can't do that at every position you already have a veteran safety you just or a veteran uh defensive back group you just pay Jaylen Johnson like you don't have to go big at free safety either like the secondary was awesome last year with a diminished Eddie Jackson as long as you get that level of play or at least a little bit better for a pretty cheap price tag that's that's perfectly fine with me spend big money elsewhere again I like Justin Simmons if he gets into that 8 million range for whatever reason I'm in but uh if I'm going to go big on defense give me the defensive lineman give me the guy that can go wreck the quarterback like Christian Wilkins all right let's go to the offensive side of the ball here with our Blockbuster free agent targets offense now Calvin Ridley I've gone back and forth on Calvin Ridley I firmly believe he is not a true number one receiver anymore but he is about as good of a number two as you're going to find in the NFL uh thousand yard season in his first full season back from the gambling probe issue uh the personal issue from the year before Etc uh eight touchdowns I mean that's pretty good after having about a year and a half off he would be an excellent number two uh to DJ Moore who's obviously uh established himself as this team's number one receiver and for those reasons and for the reasons I mentioned earlier like you need to start investing offensively I'd be in for the right price now I'm not going to give him 25 million a year and I could see some team throwing crazy money him because with t Higgins getting tagged and with Mike Evans res signing and Tampa like this why like Ridley is the clear top wide receiver it's like him and then it's like Darnell money and Maris Brown and you know number three type of guys Calvin Ridley and for some teams is going to be a number one receiver he wouldn't be for the bears but would I give him 18 a year three for 55 something like that I think I would probably do that now part of the calculus the Bears have to play is how do they feel about the draft are they trying to get a Malle neighbors or romad dun because if they are then you probably don't spend big on Calvin Ridley and like in an ideal world you would get one of those guys in the draft and then maybe sign a number three type of receiver like bring back Mooney or go get Curtis Samuel or someone like that but if you're unsure if you can get one of those big dogs in the draft Calvin Ridley on a two or threee deal at 18 per isn't that bad if that's what the market ends up being the Market's key here I'm not giving them true wide receiver one money but if you can get him at Le than 20 million per year I'd probably consider it are you in on Calvin Ridley type I for in or o for out I'm in for the right price under 20 million per year I'm in on Ridley over it's a little bit Rich for my tasting but he's still a productive player he'll catch 60 to 80 balls and probably have a thousand yards so for the next couple years so definitely a good player we're going to reveal these two together a couple of running backs and I I'm not including Josh Jacobs we're talking saquon Barkley and Derrik Henry to me these are the top two uh bigname Blockbuster running backs in my opinion uh because I thought Jacobs just fell off way more than these two did last year doesn't mean he can't bounce back but I just like these two players better I think they're better fits uh there's uh reports out there that the Bears are interested in Barkley and Jacobs there hasn't been a lot of Henry buzz but we are talking Henry here on this show obviously different skill sets um you look at their numbers last year Henry was the better Runner obviously you know he doesn't give you what saquin does as a receiving back but you look last year other than the touchdowns receiving Wise It's not like Barkley lit it up either and I think that's been a misconception about Barkley like this is not a guy who's going to catch 80 balls or something like that he'll catch 40 or 50 be a check down guy run the occasional route Etc but I call me crazy I like Henry better I think he's a better more consistent Runner um I think he's going to be cheaper as well all the pro ejections out there is that Barkley's you know probably 12 million per year may may get a three-year deal Henry's probably one or twoyear deal 10 million or so per year um and I think just as a Pure Runner Derrik Henry's better like the numbers suggest that and by the way he is not always played behind good offensive lines in Tennessee like the one Chicago is going to have this year if they you know figure out this Center thing and we'll see what if it's Ryan Bates or someone else but should be better than what he had in Tennessee last year and he still averaged 4.2 yards for carry a year ago when defens is New he was the focal point so um you put him in there khil Herbert your change of pace back and then Roshan Johnson can be like your you know third and long you know check down pass protection type of guy like I just think a guy like Derrick Henry and yes saquon Barkley too these are guys you can lean on if you have a rookie quarterback and that appears to be the direction the Bears are going in and let's be honest regardless of position you need more Playmakers on offense I'm not opposed to one of those guys being a running back as long as it's on a short-term deal even if you have to slightly overpay to do it on a short-term deal Bears have money you could do a two-year deal for 20 million for Derrick Henry I would sign up for that in a heartbeat and I just imagine the snow coming out of the sky at Soldier Field in December and January you got a lot on the line at a big divisional game just give Henry the ball 25 times man it's going to be hard to tackle that dude at Soldier Field so I I like that idea a lot I don't know if the bearss feel the same but uh I suppose we'll find out next week biggest free agent the Bears will sign who is it drop a name in the comment section down below and don't forget to join us on Monday for our day one free agency coverage what will Ryan poles uh do to get things going in the legal tampering period if you see this thumbnail this photo on your YouTube app that means you're in the right place that is where our live coverage will be click on it and we'll be breaking down everything surrounding the Bears NFL we'll have a full free agency tracker keep tabs on every single move that happens on day one of free agency plan is to be live for several hours so do not miss out my name is Harrison Graham will be back tomorrow with one last video before the start of free agency so stay [Music] tuned