NEWSLETTER
While we’ve got eyes on the NFL Draft as a vehicle for the Bears to add players to their offense, Ryan Poles continues to tinker in free agency to round out other spots on the roster.
And as has been the case with a handful of other moves, Poles turned to someone his coaching staff would consider to be a familiar face in an attempt to round out the offseason roster that will feature up to 90 players. This time it is linebacker Matt Adams, most recently of the Indianapolis Colts:
We have signed Matt Adams to a one-year contract.
Welcome to the Windy City, @all_in_adams!
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) April 9, 2022
Adams joins former Colts teammate Al-Quadin Muhammad, as well as coaches Matt Eberflus, Alan Williams, Dave Borgonzi, David Overstreet II, and James Rowe in coming from Indianapolis. All that familiarity could come in handy when the gang gets together for OTAs, minicamps, and training camp (when we get there).
It is just a one-year deal for Adams, who is a linebacker by trade, but most likely to slot in as a core special teams contributor. The 26-year-old was in on just one (1) defensive snap last season with the Colts. Meanwhile, Adams was in on 351 special teams plays — or 79 percent of that unit’s snaps. That statistical nugget is just a snapshot of what has been a larger trend throughout Adams’ four-year career. The University of Houston product played on 1,102 special team during his four years with Indy, while appearing on just 320 defensive snaps. Clearly, the Colts put plenty of trust in him as a core special teams contributor. And I imagine the Bears will do the same moving forward.
For what it’s worth, Adams — a seventh-round pick in 2018 — took significant defensive snaps in his first two seasons. He even made nine starts over the course of 32 games played in the 2018 and 2019 campaigns. The previous Bears regime did well in finding reserve linebackers who were core special teams members who could also contribute defensively in a pinch. Depending on how the rest of this roster shakes out, Adams could be in a position to do that in Chicago. As things stand currently, it looks like there are plenty of snaps to go around the reserve linebackers. Starting this summer, we’ll see who makes the most of them when the opportunities come around.
