The Chicago Bears are trying to rebuild on the fly and get younger at key positions. But believe it or not, the Bears are actually one of the oldest teams in the NFL.
The Bears currently have 14 players on their roster that are 30+ years old, that’s the most in the NFL according to Jimmy Kempski. The Jets, Bengals, Colts and 49ers come in second place with 12 players that are 30+ years old. Among those 14 players, the oldest is 33 as the Bears have three players that age: Jared Allen, Robbie Gould and Jeremiah Ratliff.
Something that is interesting from this stat is that eight of those 14 players were signed in the past two off-seasons. In the 2014 off-season, the Bears brought in Allen (33), Ryan Mundy (30) and Zach Miller (30). In this off-season, the Bears have singed Will Montgomery (32), Ray McDonald (30), Thomas Gafford (32) and Alan Ball (30). Remember however, the Bears only signed each of those players to one-year deals and none of them are really part of the future. Defensive end Willie Young will turn 30 in September.
Rebuilding on the fly isn’t easy and teams are going to bring in older players so this really isn’t a major surprise that the Bears are old. Veteran players are needed even when a team is trying to get young.
In fact, they are used to being old. Going into last season, the Bears were the third oldest team in the NFL with an average age of 26.72. In 2013 that average was 26.77 (29th in NFL) and in 2012 it was 26.66 (28th).
The Bears are obviously going to get younger through the draft as they look for key pieces to help the rebuild. They also have needs at positions filled with older players including quarterback Jay Cutler (31), running back Matt Forte (29) and cornerback Tim Jennings (31). The Bears are likely addressing these positions in the next two NFL Drafts.
In the NFC North, the Packers have the fewest players 30 years and older with 4, the Vikings have 7 and Lions have 9.
Here is the full list:
Number of 30+ year old players, per NFL team: pic.twitter.com/LrXyGzkqfM
— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) April 6, 2015
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