Bears Lose Both of Their Nicks on Day 1 of Free Agency
The Bears lost more defensive depth late Monday when Nick Williams signed with the Detroit Lions.
Williams received a two-year deal for $10 million, according to SiriusXM sports.
Earlier in the day backup linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski left in free agency for the Las Vegas Raiders.
It was expected Williams would depart, especially after the Bears extended a second-round tender offer in restricted free agency to their other backup defensive lineman, Roy Robertson-Harris.
Williams, who is 30, had six sacks last year in extensive playing time for the first time in his five-year NFL career. An elbow injury suffered by Akiem Hicks and a broken hand that plagued defensive end Bilal Nichols resulted in his increased playing time.
Williams has 60 career tackles and 42 came last year when he had the first five starts of his career. All six of his sacks came in the season's first nine games. He was instrumental in the defense remaining fourth in points allowed despite losing Hicks, Danny Trevathan and Roquan Smith for much of the season.
The Lions will be Williams' fifth team. He is a seventh-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers, was cut by Pittsburgh, played briefly for Kansas City and Miami before coming to the Bears in 2018. He played in only two games in 2018 for the Bears.
The Bears could rely on the draft for a replacement. They also had Brent Urban and Abdullah Anderson on the roster last year as backups but Urban is an unrestricted free agent. Anderson remains with the team and spent most of the year on the practice squad.
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