Bears Sign Former Raiders Nose Tackle

For the first three days of free agency, it was easy to look at the Bears defensive line and sound like a 1980s TV commercial: "Where's the beef?"

It arrived Thursday when they signed free agent nose tackle Andrew Billings. NFL Network reported the deal at one year, $3.5 million with $2.4 million guaranteed.

Billings is 6-foot-1, 328 pounds. The Bears Tampa-2 scheme doesn't usually operate with bigger players like this on the line but they do need a nose tackle to prevent centers from sliding over to double-team the Bears three-technique tackle.

Billings has done that in a 4-3 defense alongside Geno Atkins with the Cincinnati Bengals from 2017-19.

Adding Billings gives them one of the bigger players they would need in a rotation up front. He has 120 tackles in 67 games with 51 starts, including 17 for loss. He's made 4 1/2 sacks and 15 quarterback hits.

Last year Billings missed three games with a fibula injury last year and he opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID concerns. He had signed in free agency with the Browns in 2020 before opting out, then played for them in 2021 and was with the Raiders last year.

Until signing Billings, the Bears had no real one technique on the roster. They had Armon Watts last year as well as Angelo Blackson and Mike Pennel. All of them were free agents and none of them enjoyed strong seasons.

Last year they spent $3.1 million for Blackson, $2.5 million for Watts and $1.12 million for Pennel, so it's possible they'll add another nose tackle to the mix in either the draft or free agency.

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