LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Four seasons removed from their last playoff berth, the Chicago Bears are in the midst of a difficult rebuild brought upon by years of misevaluation.

The decision on Monday to move linebackers Jared Allen and Jonathan Bostic netted the Bears a pair of sixth-round choices, which is a good start, but barely scratches the surface of what needs to happen to turn Chicago into a contender.

“They’re not starting from zero, but I definitely think they have some serious work to do,” said former Philadelphia Eagles president and Cleveland Browns CEO Joe Banner, who currently works as an ESPN analyst. “The philosophy of accumulating draft picks is exactly what you need to do to win. And clearing cap room is the other benefit of moving players.”

Bears GM Ryan Pace has a lot of work to do to rebuild the team's depth and add talent. AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

Salary cap space is a non-issue in this instance. The Bears are projected to have in excess of $58 million worth of cap space, based on a $150 million cap in 2016.

Properly evaluating talent is the problem. The most critical player evaluations occur at the collegiate level. Teams that draft well consistently win. Teams that routinely miss in the draft, such as the Bears, lack a large core of young players to build around.

As of Thursday, the Bears have only 25 of 60 homegrown players (42 percent) on their active roster/reserve lists. The league average is over 60 percent.

Outside of offensive lineman Kyle Long and wide receiver Alshon Jeffery (who is in the final year of his contract), the Bears don’t have much to show for their three drafts under ex-general manager Phil Emery. Of the 20 players Emery selected, eight are no longer with the team (Brandon Hardin, Evan Rodriguez, Isaiah Frey, Greg McCoy, Bostic, Khaseem Greene, Jordan Mills and Brock Vereen). Last year’s top choice, cornerback Kyle Fuller, enjoyed a productive rookie year, but temporarily got benched in Week 2 for performance-related reasons.

The Bears started only seven of their drafts picks in Week 3. Just two Chicago draft picks started on offense – Matt Forte and Long.

This year’s six-person draft class -- the first spearheaded by Ryan Pace and John Fox -- has produced an early mixed bag of results. Three of the rookies have been serious contributors -- Adrian Amos (fifth round), Eddie Goldman (second) and Jeremy Langford (fourth). But Kevin White, the No. 7 overall pick, is likely to miss the entire season after he suffered a stress fracture in his ankle that required surgery to correct. Third-round choice center Hroniss Grasu has been a healthy scratch all three weeks.

One of the recent draft picks that deserves scrutiny is Emery’s original selection: Shea McClellin (No. 19 overall in 2012).

McClellin has value. He seems to have settled in at inside linebacker following three frustrating years of bouncing around from defensive end to strongside linebacker. But McClellan’s early struggles stained Emery’s tenure in Chicago.

The Bears were desperate for a pass-rusher in 2012 to compliment Julius Peppers, who at that stage of his career routinely put up double-digit sack totals. Emery had a chance to take Chandler Jones (26.5 sacks in 43 career games for the New England Patriots), but instead opted for the less-heralded McClellin, who had only 6.5 sacks in two years at defensive end.

The Bears' selection of RB Matt Forte has paid off, but former coach Marc Trestman went 13-19 in two seasons and was fired. AP Photo/Jim Prisching

If McClellin had developed into the pass-rusher Emery envisioned, Chicago would not have committed $34.45 million in guaranteed money in free agency to Allen ($15.5 million), Lamarr Houston ($15 million) and Willie Young ($3.95 million). Because of McClellin’s struggles at defensive end, Emery had to overspend to find two new starting ends – Peppers was a salary cap casualty after the 2013 season.

Free agency is a tool to enhance a roster. Teams that excessively spend to cover-up draft errors suffer in the big picture.

Allen and Houston failed to make impacts at their natural defensive end positions in 2014. Emery does deserve credit for Young, who tallied a career-best 10 sacks. But Young is now out of position at outside linebacker; similar to Houston and Allen (before the trade to Carolina).

But Emery’s tenure set the Bears back in more ways than player personnel. After firing Lovie Smith, who had failed to make the playoffs in five of six years, Emery passed on hiring Bruce Arians and chose Marc Trestman. Arians is a two-time NFL Coach of the Year whose Cardinals are coming off a rout of Chicago to improve their start to 3-0. The Cardinals are now in the conversation of Super Bowl contenders. Trestman, meanwhile, went 13-19 in two seasons and is now the Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator.

Ex-Bears Adewale Ogunleye and Israel Idonije exchanged insults about Emery on Twitter earlier this week. “Looks like the Trestman/ Emery era will be harder to overcome then first thought...” Ogunleye tweeted.

The Bears also have a dilemma at quarterback. Cutler, 32, is the only legitimate starting quarterback on the roster, but he has guided the franchise to just one playoff appearance since he arrived in 2009, and he still turns the ball over at an alarming rate. He has underachieved, and yet Emery signed him to a seven-year extension in January, 2014. The deal includes $54 million guaranteed over the first three years. The Bears are on the hook for $10 million next season, and after reportedly trying to move him before the draft, they may try to deal him again. Seven years after trading a pair of first-rounders, a third-round pick and Kyle Orton to Denver for Cutler, the Bears still are searching for answers at quarterback.

However, Banner does not think the uncertainty at quarterback will prevent the Bears from implementing their plan.

“They may already know the answer to the question [about what to do with Cutler],” Banner said. “Even if they’re still deciding ... they have to decide, ‘Do we want to build a team on speed or do we want to build a team that dominates the line of scrimmage? Are we willing to take some chances on character?’ They can’t do that slowly. I would be shocked if they haven’t already done that internally. Whether they know the answer at quarterback or not, they have to move forward.”

History tells us the Bears were wise to move forward with Fox, who is renowned at helping turn Carolina and Denver into playoff caliber teams in a timely manner.

Fox’s greatest challenge may be in Chicago. The Bears’ inconsistency in identifying talent at the collegiate and professional levels resulted in declining win totals in each season since 2012 (10-6, 8-8, 5-11 and an 0-3 start this season).

Banner warns the process could take years.

“Everything in John Fox’s career indicates he’s a really good coach,” Banner said. “It appears he’s put together a really good staff. Now the next step is being patient and over two or three years upgrade the quality of the team.

“There are 22 starters; it’s not as if there are 50 starters. Even if I have six, seven or eight starters I like ... if you can get to 11 or 12 through the draft and free agency, now you can start to get competitive. Teams that win the Super Bowl don’t have 22 quality starters. They have some places where they are just okay. As long as you have a bit of a foundation, and I think they do; if you make good decisions you’d be surprised how quickly you can get yourself in a good position.”