{"id":115771,"date":"2024-04-30T16:42:39","date_gmt":"2024-04-30T16:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/?p=115771"},"modified":"2024-04-30T16:42:56","modified_gmt":"2024-04-30T16:42:56","slug":"bears-named-best-spot-for-former-60-million-all-pro-dt-nguyensa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/bears-named-best-spot-for-former-60-million-all-pro-dt-nguyensa\/","title":{"rendered":"Bears Named Best Spot for Former $60 Million All-Pro DT"},"content":{"rendered":"
Getty\u00a0Veteran DT Calais Campbell is still a free agent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
After the conclusion of the 2024\u00a0NFL\u00a0draft, the\u00a0Chicago Bears\u00a0have just a few positional needs to address in order to fully round out their roster.<\/p>\n
After adding quarterback\u00a0Caleb Williams\u00a0with the top overall pick and drafting wide receiver Rome Odunze at No. 9, the Bears changed their offense completely. Chicago also added offensive lineman Kiran Amegadjie, punter Tory Taylor and pass rusher Austin Booker in the later rounds, leaving the team\u2019s primary remaining need at defensive tackle.<\/p>\n
Dan Pizzuta of The 33rd Team\u00a0put together a list of the best fits for the top available free agents post-draft, and he named the Bears the top landing spot for veteran DT\u00a0Calais Campbell. Noting Chicago had \u201cone of the league\u2019s best defenses from the second half of last season\u201d last year, Pizzuta\u2019s pitch for Campbell heading to the Windy City is a strong one.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Bears still lack other impact players along the defensive line,\u201d he wrote on April 29. \u201cThe only additions were free agents Jake Martin and Byron Cowart and fifth-round pick Austin Booker. Calais Campbell can still help the Bears\u2019 defensive line inside and on the edge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Campbell, 37, was once a top DT in the league, back when he inked a\u00a0four-year, $60 million deal\u00a0with the\u00a0Arizona Cardinals\u00a0in 2017. A six-time Pro Bowl selection, Campbell was a first-team All-Pro in 2017, and while he\u2019s not the same player as he was then, he has been reliable, efficient and relatively productive in the years since.<\/p>\n
With Booker being a fifth-round rookie, the Bears might also benefit from having a durable veteran presence on the line. Montez Sweat, DeMarcus Walker and Andrew Billings are there, of course, but the 6-foot-8, 282-pound Campbell\u2019s massive presence could help shore up Chicago\u2019s D-line.<\/p>\n
\u201cCampbell was the Falcons\u2019 leading pressure creator last season,\u201d Pizzuta noted. \u201cThrowing Campbell on this line could take attention away from Sweat and open up opportunities for the likes of DeMarcus Walker and Gervon Dexter.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 17 games last year, Campbell finished with 56 tackles\u00a0(10 for loss), 17 quarterback hits, a safety, a forced fumble and 6.5 sacks. He hit the 100-sack mark in his 16th season last year. The Bears could handle adding that type of production in the middle of the D-line. Concerns about his age are warranted, but it\u2019s fair to say he can still be an impact player week to week.<\/p>\n
Per Pro Football Focus, Campbell had 25 hurries in 2023, the most he\u2019s had since the 2019 season. He was limited to 12 games in 2020, but other than that, he hasn\u2019t missed more than three games in any single season over his entire career, which is impressive to say the least.<\/p>\n
Campbell signed a one-year deal worth $7 million with the Falcons last year, so he\u2019ll probably be commanding a bit less than that this season. We\u2019ll see if Chicago has any interest in paying it. If it\u2019s not Campbell, expect the Bears to add another defensive tackle at some point this offseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Getty\u00a0Veteran DT Calais Campbell is still a free agent. After the conclusion of the 2024\u00a0NFL\u00a0draft, the\u00a0Chicago Bears\u00a0have just a few positional needs to address in order to… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":115772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115771"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115773,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115771\/revisions\/115773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mlbhi.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}