Of all the Bears’ free agents, this one may be the hardest to decide. Though many at Pro Football Focus would argue differently, a number of variables may play a role in the decision to bring defensive tackle Justin Jones back. Jones was 107th out of 130 interior line defenders this season, the lowest ranking of any Bears defensive tackle, including rookies Gervon Dexter (101st) and Zacch Pickens (83rd), according to PFF, which ranked all Bears defensive linemen in 2022 around the bottom of the league. Jones is a key member of the three technique defensive line. He must be in the gap, attacking upfield, as he plays the weakside of the field between the guard and tackle. To help, though, it must be carried out in tandem with the rest of the front.

In two seasons playing this position for a four-man base front with single-gap emphasis, Jones has definitely improved. The numbers say it, even if PFF’s assessment doesn’t say so. He had a career-high 4 1/2 sacks in 2023 after making three in 2022. Jones had 17 quarterback hits after just seven last season and a career-high 22 pressures, 12 more than his previous high and 13 more than last year. He knocked down quarterbacks 12 times and had never in his career done it more than three times. Jones didn’t make as many tackles for loss this season but it was close, and the difference between 12 last year and 10 this year was more than made up for by the fact the defense had other players capable of making plays up front in 2023 who took away some chances from Jones.

In 2023, the remaining defensive players recorded 62 tackles for loss, compared to 55 last year. Having T.J. Edwards and, in particular, nose tackle Andrew Billings, is beneficial. Jones played a major role in the Bears defense, which gave up 17 points or less in five of their previous six games and 20 when they were ahead of 17. At the end of the season, Bears coach Matt Eberflus listed Jones’ name alongside other important players he believed were crucial to the defense’s improvement to 12th in the league.

“There’s some dynamic players in that free agency class that Ryan (Poles) did an awesome job with,” Eberflus stated. “You mention players like Maine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards, Justin Jones, D-Walk (DeMarcus Walker), and the transactions with DJ Moore and Montez Sweat; those are dynamic players. Although it took some time to be able to do so, we’re really pleased about the prospect of getting those men together in the future.” Despite all of this, Jones’ return would appear to depend more on the Bears locating a better free agent replacement than Jones, one who can play at a higher level and wouldn’t require as much time to integrate into the scheme. Completing this task in the draft is an extremely challenging task. Three methods