After more than six months in free agency, Alec Ogletree has resurfaced on the NFL radar. The Bears brought in the former Rams first-round pick for a Friday workout, per Albert Breer of SI.com (on Twitter).
The Giants made Ogletree a cap casualty in February. This marks the first Ogletree news since then. The 29-year-old linebacker started 26 games for the Giants over the past two seasons, but the team dropped him before signing Blake Martinez to a lucrative deal.
Ogletree was largely unable to live up to his four-year, $42MM Rams extension in New York, but he did produce in 2018. The former No. 30 overall pick intercepted five passes and notched two defensive touchdowns in his first Giants season. He has started at least 15 games in a season four times (all with the Rams) and has four defensive TDs and 12 forced fumbles on his resume as well.
In Danny Trevathan and Roquan Smith, the Bears have two clear starters at linebacker. Behind them, however, Chicago’s roster houses 2018 fourth-round pick Joel Iyiegbuniwe and two recent UDFAs. Despite suiting up for 31 career games, Iyiegbuniwe has played just 26 defensive snaps. Both Smith and Trevathan have battled injuries in recent years, and the Bears lost longtime backup/spot starter Nick Kwiatkoski in free agency.
Ogletree is definitely one of the more overrated players in the game. He’s decent in coverage, but a pretty pedestrian tackler and has gotten completely exposed without being surrounded by more talented Rams defenders
Well, he’d be surrounded by a group of stout defenders on the Bears. But I think their mistake was not finding a way to keep Kwiatkoski.
Totally agree. Trevathan doesn’t have the most reliable injury history, so they might need to invest in better depth. Otherwise, him and Roquan should still form a decent tandem
That was DUMB not to sign him we are weak at MLB and not many good one unless plan on teach Ladarius Mack to be a MLB to small for OLB