Bears' Decision to Let Nick Kwiatkoski Walk for Cheap Price to Raiders is Embarrassing

The Chicago Bears failed to live up to their Super Bowl hype last season as defending NFC North champs, and as a result of their spending spree the past couple of years, entered with minimal money to spend. Even so, that's not stopping them from trying to acquire a quarterback.

As a result of searching for Mitchell Trubisky's replacement, the team lost out on re-signing linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski. The 26-year-old instead signed with the Las Vegas Raiders on a cheap three-year, $21 million contract -- and the Bears should feel just awful for allowing their diamond-in-the-rough inside linebacker to walk on a minimal deal.

Kwiatkoski was taken in the fourth round of the 2016 NFL Draft out of West Virginia. He didn't crack the starting lineup much through his first three years with the Bears, but it was his 2019 campaign in which he truly broke out.

In 16 games last season (eight starts), Kiwatkoski recorded 76 tackles (eight for loss), four passes defensed, three sacks, three quarterback hits, and one interception. The numbers might not be sexy, but Pro Football Focus rates him as the 15th-best linebacker in the entire NFL last season.

Yes, the Bears have quite a number of linebackers at their disposal, but you can't tell us that Leonard Floyd or Danny Trevathan is better than Kwiatkoski. Now, he gets to prove his worth out in Las Vegas for the next three years, and you best believe he's going to make the Bears kick themselves.