Thirty years and a month after the ’85 Bears won a Super Bowl with one of the best defenses of all time, the Bears are in the process of using free agency to load up their 2016 version of the team’s defensive unit.
The Bears have announced that defensive lineman Akiem Hicks has signed a two-year deal.
The Saints traded Hicks to the Patriots in September 2015. He appeared in 13 regular-season games and two playoff games for the Patriots, with no starts.
The Bears have signed linebacker Danny Trevathan and linebacker Jerrell Freeman, and they’ve resigned cornerbacks Sherrick McManis and Tracy Porter.
While the Bears have a long way to go before anyone will confuse them with the Super Bowl XX champions, they’re doing what they have to do to better make the transformation from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense in coach John Fox’s second season with the team.