How Titans’ salary cap problems could help the Bears |
Unlike the Bears, most teams don’t have $100 million to work with for their salary cap. In fact, 15 NFL teams are currently over the salary cap. The Tennessee Titans were one of these teams, but they released four of their better players - left tackle Taylor Lewan, kicker Randy Bullock, linebacker Zach Cunningham and wide receiver Robert Woods - to get under the salary cap.
Signing Robert Woods would probably be more about bringing a veteran into the locker room more than anything else. Drafted back in 2013 by the Buffalo Bills, he spent four years with them before spending the next five years with the Rams. This season with the Titans was his first, and apparently also his last. Woods has struggled a little bit with his health but was able to play in all 17 games this season. He is a solid player and could easily be a No. 2 receiver for Chicago, which would help to divert the attention from Darnell Mooney and open up opportunities for some of the other receivers like Equanimeous St. Brown.
It’s not a mystery that the Bears need some offensive linemen. Further, their best offensive lineman, Larry Borom, plays right tackle making it more important for the Bears to get players on the left side of the line. Taylor Lewan spent all nine of his seasons in the NFL with the Titans before being released. He made the Pro Bowl from 2016 through 2018. When Lewan can play, he is a solid offensive lineman. But that’s the catch - he hasn’t played much in the past few years. More recently, he suffered a torn ACL back in Week 2 this past season, which kept him out for the rest of the season. In fact, he has been unable to play an entire season for the past five seasons. He is surely an injury liability, which might make it safer to draft an offensive lineman instead of picking up Lewan. But, he is still someone to keep in mind, particularly as a veteran.
For the first time, possibly in the history of the Chicago Bears, they need more help for their defense than their offense. Teams were running all over the Bears and scoring a league-worst of 27.2 points per game and scoring an average of 35 points per game in the final three of the season. Cunningham has been a good linebacker in this league since he was drafted in 2017. However, like Lewan, injuries have given him some problems over the past few years. He was placed on injured reserve twice this past season. It may be worth it to pick him up as long as the price is not too high. Further, adding more experience to the position wouldn’t hurt since the Bears have one of the youngest rosters in the NFL.
The kicker isn’t exactly top on the list of priorities for Chicago. But, it still is an issue for them; Bears fans do not need to be reminded of how important a kicker can be for a successful team. Bullock has bounced around the NFL a bit, playing on a total of six different teams. Still, kickers are very inexpensive compared to other positions and with $100 million, it might not hurt to take a chance on a kicker. On the other hand, statistically, he performs about the same as the Bears’ current kicker, Cairo Santos. So, it might not be worth signing Bullock to replace Santos if they are both going to perform about the same. Also, Jake Moody out of Michigan is arguably the best kicker in the entire country, and it may be more worthwhile to pick him up as opposed to Bullock.Robert Woods
Taylor Lewan
Zach Cunningham
Randy Bullock
