The Chicago Bears are reportedly putting the final touches on a five-year deal for linebacker PernellMcPhee.
The Chicago Bears are wasting no time in reviving their moribund defense from 2014, the struggles of which largely fueled a squad that crumbled down the stretch. The team has reportedly agreed to a five-year deal with former Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker Pernell McPhee, who will fortify the team’s pass rush.
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The Bears defense allowed the third-most yards in the NFL last season while sitting in the middle of pack in sacks and interceptions. Adding a fierce pass rusher like McPhee — who tallied 7.5 sacks in 2014 — can help the team immediately turn that around.
The linebacker was reportedly a target of interest for plenty of teams around the league, including the Arizona Cardinals, who were hoping to replace the departed Darnell Dockett with the 26-year-old McPhee. No such luck on that account, it would appear.
Pernell McPhee, a fifth round pick in the 2011 NFL draft, totaled 17 sacks in four seasons with the Ravens. He is also considered a stout run defender and was an early free agent target given the salary cap situation of the team that drafted him. Some projected that McPhee would get money similar to what Everson Griffin commanded from the Minnesota Vikings last offseason and those projections appear largely correct today.
The Ravens meanwhile will once again keep plugging along with another player lost to free agency. This seems to be an annual rite for the team, and one they were expecting this year in regards to McPhee. No matter. The team seems to specialize in finding talented defenders in the mid-to-late rounds of the draft. If one walks out the door, two more can just walk in and duke it out for his spot.
The Bears still have plenty of work to do and that doesn’t end with the defense. The team still has to decide what it wants to do with quarterback Jay Cutler and his behemoth contract while also finding a replacement for receiver Brandon Marshall, who they recently traded to the New York Jets.
Free agency officially begins on Tuesday, March 10 at 4PM. McPhee will be free to sign a deal then and it looks like the Chicago Bears will be the team with whom he signs.
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