Bears' offseason moves highlight commitment to building in trenches

The Bears landing former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to be their head coach kicked off a new era in Chicago.

The start of this offseason has shown that the Bears are very committed to bolstering their play in the trenches.

Last week Chicago made headlines acquiring Joe Thuney from Kansas City for a fourth-round pick and Jonah Jackson from the Los Angeles Rams for a sixth-round pick.

On Monday they rounded out their interior offensive line by signing former Falcons center Drew Dalman to a three-year deal worth $42 million.

After these three moves, it looks like Chicago will have a starting offensive line of Braxton Jones, Joe Thuney, Dalman, Jackson and Darnell Wright.

This turns what was an area of weakness for the Bears offense last season into a much-improved unit on paper.

The Bears also made signings to address the defensive side of the ball, moves Monday. Chicago signed former Colts edge-rusher Dayo Odeyingbo to a three-year deal worth $48 million and former Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett to a three-year deal worth $43.5 million.

Odeyingo, who won't turn 26 years old until September, is a former second-round pick for Indianapolis who played in all 17 games over each of the last three seasons. 

He is a very solid pass rusher and is someone the Bears can rely upon to play across from Montez Sweat and be a key piece in their edge rusher rotation throughout the three-year contract.

After spending ten seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, Grady Jarrett will now join the Bears interior defensive line rotation. Given that Jarrett will turn 32 years old next month, it's a safe bet that Jarrett won't produce like he did in his prime seasons in Atlanta, but he is still a valuable addition.

Jarrett is still a very solid pass rusher and run stopper at this stage of his career. He also provides the defense with a veteran presence and leadership, which is important for a team like Chicago, which is looking to build a winning culture.

The Bears are a team that are notorious in recent years for having seemingly strong offseasons without that producing on-field success. So, this offseason will likely be met with skepticism in Chicago regardless of what moves are made. However, what can't be denied is Chicago's aggressiveness early in the offseason in strengthening their trench play on both sides of the ball.