You might think it is odd to quote a teenager rom-com in a sports post... but I'm odd. Do you remember 10 Things I Hate About You? If not, in it a character named Chastity (played by Gabrielle Union... who is married to... Dwyaen Wade... BOOM Sports!) asks "I know you can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?"
Well Chastity as a Bears fan who is watching free agency, I can tell you that unequivocally the answer is a resounding "yes". I am extremely whelmed right now with the Bears moves right now. They didn't do anything terrible (like they normally do) and they did do anything amazing (like they rarely do). They just shuffled some pieces around. At some positions they got slightly better. At some positions they got slightly worse. But right now, they are basically even. And considering they won 11 games last year and a playoff game, even is not a bad place to be. this is especially true when you factor in that their young QB got an awesome second (I'd argue it was more like his real first) season under his belt.
So what have they done?
It began with trading the Green Bay Packer killer DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills. Although they will definitely take a step down in their three receiver rotation, we still have to see what the second round pick they received turns into. Considering how valuable second round picks are, I'll call that a wash for now.
But let's go position by position.
They lost Drew Dalman to retirement at the age of 27. This was a HUGE loss. They did trade a 5th round pick to New England for Garrett Bradbury to replace Dalman. He is supposedly a decent player but still a step down. So this is a -1
The Bears lost S Kevin Byard (who led the league in interceptions) and replaced him with former Seahawk Coby Bryant. He is actually younger, a little better and somehow cheaper than Byard so this is a + 1/2.
The Bears cut linebacker Tremaine Edmunds who had an awesome year. But they replaced him with Devin Bush, who also had an awesome year in Cleveland, is faster and cheaper. This one is so close but all call it a + 1/2.
The Bears brought back a depth providing player sin linebacker in D'Marco Jackson, LT Braxton Jones, DE Daniel Hardy and QB Case Keenum. They are the same players so this is a neutral grade.
The Bears lost 4th wide receiver Olamide Zacchaeus and replaced him with an excellent return man and a guy who has played for Ben Johnson before in Kalif Raymond. I'll give him a + 1/2 because is name is easier to spell.
The Bears have also lost CB Dashon Wright, DE Dominque Robinson, S Jonathan Owens, CB C.J. Gardner-Johnson and S Jaquan Brisker. Although Wright had a surpsiginly good year and Brisker had his flashes, neither were big losses. Brisker seemed to always be hurt so it would have been hard to rely on him. Even though they are not direct positional matches, the Bears added a bunch of guys to add depth including DT Neville Gallimore, DE Kentavius Street, and CB Cam Lewis. It seems Cam Lewis may be the jewel of this bunch but that remains to be seen. I'll call this one a wash as well.
So let's look at that final score. -1 + 1/2 + 1/2 + 1/2 for a total of... + 1/2
I'd say a + 1/2 is the definition of "whelmed". Like I said not too bad and not too good. But the off season is not over. Although the big free agents are all spoken for, there are still possible trades and a draft where the Bears have a first round and two second round picks. Hopefully they find a way to push this off season into the overwhelmed category!