Julius Peppers
If you’re expecting the Chicago Bears to spend a lot of cash on free agents this offseason, you are going to be disappointed.
Instead, it appears that the team is going to exercise restraint when opening up the check book.
“We’re not going to be one of those handful of teams sometimes that just goes hog wild in free agency,” Bears president Ted Phillips told Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. “Our strategy has always been kind of balanced in free agency and work through the draft and every other area… I think the reality that teams’ success, at least in the NFL, is not based on how much money you spend in free agency.”
Believe it or not, Phillips added that the imposing lockout in 2011 is not factoring into Chicago’s decision.
As for what their exact strategy is and whether Julius Peppers will be courted, the team isn’t saying much.
“We can’t talk about individual players,” the Bears president said. “I can tell you we are in the midst of putting the finishing touches on what our plan is. We’ll go from there. Come March 5, we’ll see what situation we pursue and not.”