While the Chicago Bears addressed | Forum

LAKE FOREST White Danny Trevathan Jerseys , Ill. (AP) one need at linebacker early in the NFL draft, their problem at outside pass rusher had to wait.It waited until the sixth round on Saturday.Bears general manager Ryan Pace turned largely to the defensive side in the final day with three selections, including sixth-round defensive end Kylie Fitts from Utah.Before Fitts, the Bears selected Western Kentucky inside linebacker Joel Iyiegbuniwe in Round 4, and Delaware defensive tackle Bilal Nichols in Round 5. They closed out the draft in the seventh round by taking another target for quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, Georgia wide receiver Javon Wims.After grabbing Georgia standout inside linebacker Roquan Smith with the No. 8 overall pick on Thursday, the Bears drafted Iowa center James Daniels with the 39th pick on Friday, then traded up to select Memphis receiver Anthony Miller at No. 51.Yet there was no outside pass rush help until they took Fitts as the Bears stuck to their draft board instead of moving up or reaching for a player at a position of need.”You’ve just got to be careful that you don’t force these things,” Pace said. ”I’m glad we attacked needs, but we also took best players on the board.”Now they’ll be left to rely on free agent acquisition Aaron Lynch and third-year linebacker Leonard Floyd for an outside pass rush, while considering remaining unrestricted free agents or undrafted free agents.Overall, productive safe picks replaced potential and risky selections for Chicago, as Pace made only one trade in his first draft since Matt Nagy became coach.Last year, Pace traded up to select Trubisky with the second pick of the draft after Trubisky had just 13 college starts. He picked fast, undersized pass rusher Floyd in the first round in 2016, and in 2015 drafted inexperienced wide receiver Kevin White. White has played in five NFL games due to injuries.The Bears finished last in the NFC North for the fourth straight year and have missed the playoffs every season since 2010, leading to the firing of coach John Fox. They haven’t posted a winning record since 2012, Lovie Smith’s final year.INJURY QUESTIONSA defensive end in Utah’s 4-3 formation, Fitts has more than his inexperience in the Bears’ 3-4 scheme to overcome. He had a Lisfranc ligament tear in his foot in 2016 and played in only two games Danny Trevathan Jerseys 2019 , then had shoulder and ankle sprains last year.Fitts called the injuries the reason he dropped from a projected pick in the third or fifth rounds to the sixth.”It was just a run of bad luck and I think I got it all out of the way,” Fitts said. ”I think it definitely made me into a stronger man and I’m healthy now and I’m excited to play for the Bears.”OVERLOOKED AGAINGoing undrafted until the final round gave Georgia’s Wims a familiar overlooked feeling.When the Bears’ seventh-round pick came out of high school, he had to go to NAIA Belhaven after only one year of high school football and because of poor grades. Wims left Belhaven for Hinds Junior College, earned a scholarship to Georgia, and helped lead the Bulldogs to the national title game last year with team highs of 45 catches, 720 yards and nine touchdowns.INSIDE CONNECTIONDelaware’s Nichols has a real inside Bears connection. Nagy is a Delaware grad, as is Bears offensive assistant Brian Ginn, who played quarterback and was an assistant for the Blue Hens.”Coach Ginn, he’s an awesome guy,” Nichols said. ”He was one of the guys that helped recruit me at Delaware. Unbelievable guy, great guy.”STILL NEEDAdditional outside pass rushers are needed because the Bears like to use a rotation of three or four outside rushers. Fitts joins Howard Jones, Isaiah Irving and Sam Acho as potential outside pass rushers behind Lynch and Floyd.Veterans Lamarr Houston, Pernell McPhee and Willie Young accounted for 10 Bears sacks last year but are no longer with the team.— ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) — Two days after the Oakland Raiders shipped Pro Bowl defensive end Khalil Mack to the Chicago Bears in a blockbuster deal that sent shock waves throughout the NFL, many of Mack’s former teammates were still trying to come to terms with it.Quarterback Derek Carr, who heard the news while sitting down to eat breakfast, was stunned. Defensive tackle Justin Ellis called it a bittersweet moment. Others, like linebacker Bruce Irvin and offensive lineman Donald Penn, declined to talk about it.Carr White Nick Kwiatkoski Jerseys , who developed a close bond with Mack after the two entered the NFL together as the Raiders’ first two draft picks in 2014, was particularly rattled by the trade.“It’s not what anybody wanted, I think that’s clear,” Carr said Monday. “But it is what it is, it’s part of the business. It’s one of those sucky things that happen. The hardest part for me is, obviously you lose a good football player, but he’s my brother. That’s one of my best friends.”Mack, the 2016 Defensive Player of the Year, was traded to the Bears after skipping the Raiders’ offseason workouts and holding out in training camp for a new contract.Oakland, which included a second-round pick in 2020 and a conditional fifth-rounder in the deal, received Chicago’s first-round picks in the next two years along with a sixth-round selection in 2019 and a third-round pick in 2020.Shortly after the trade, Mack signed the richest deal ever given to a defensive player: six years, $141 million, with $90 million guaranteed.“It was very difficult for us . but it was also like a bittersweet moment for us,” Ellis said. “He got what he wanted and we know it’s a part of the business. A lot of people were texting me and calling me like, ‘Say it ain’t true.’ But it’s true.”Several players took to social media to express their shock and disbelief after the deal was announced. Carr posted ‘No way’ on Twitter. Irvin had a similar, albeit more colorful, message.Oakland coach Jon Gruden tried to clear the air when he addressed his team before Monday’s practice as the Raiders prepared for their season opener against the Los Angeles Rams next Monday night.“We don’t have to like or agree with everything,” Carr said. “We don’t get paid for that. We get paid to come in here Nick Kwiatkoski Jerseys 2019 , come together as a team and win together. It’s hard because we lost him, but I can promise you we’re going to be ready to play.”Carr and Mack became quick friends as rookies and spent many hours discussing ways to turn around a franchise that had been mired in chaos for more than a decade. They also talked about winning a Super Bowl together, plans that were scrapped when Mack was abruptly shipped to the Bears.“When we showed up here we wanted to change the culture and show people what it meant to work, and I think we did that,” Carr said. “I feel good about that. We did change the dynamic of how things are done from the people in the locker room. I believe that 100 percent.“We won’t be able to win a ring together. That’s the only thing left on our list that won’t happen. I wish him the best, besides when he plays us.”While attempting to explain the trade to reporters on Sunday, Gruden repeatedly pointed to the $90 million in guaranteed money that the Bears gave Mack and said the Raiders offer wasn’t close to that.That was particularly difficult for Carr.During the 2017 offseason the Raiders signed their young quarterback to a five-year, $125 million extension. Right guard Gabe Jackson was also given a hefty raise that same year, while Ellis and wide receiver Seth Roberts signed new deals with Oakland in March.That left little room for Mack under the salary cap, even though Carr specifically said he structured his contract in order to make it easier for the team to keep Mack.“That’s what makes it hard,” Carr said. “We all saw it coming. You just hope it can work out. We all did our best to make sure it could, and it just didn’t work out that way.”Arden Key, Oakland’s third-round pick who is expected to get the majority of playing time in place of Mack, had been hopeful of learning from a player who compiled 40 ½ sacks in his first four NFL seasons.“I wish I could have been able to play with him,” Key said. “It was very shocking. I thought the deal was going to get done.”NOTES: The Raiders continued to shake up their roster and signed veteran wide receiver Brandon LaFell. LaFell spent the past two seasons in Cincinnati and had 52 catches for 548 yards and three touchdowns in 2017. Oakland also claimed defensive tackle Brian Price off waivers from the Dallas Cowboys. To clear room, the team waived wide receiver Johnny Holton and defensive tackle Treyvon Hester.__