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The NFL is already a week into free agency and the Bears have been very active. Here are 10 “things” on the Bears’ moves so far:

1. It’s impossible to know how any of these free agent signings will work out, but Bears fans should be encouraged that general manager Ryan Pace has a plan/philosophy that he believes in and sticks to. Granted, it’s only Pace’s second offseason with the team, but by and large, he’s doing exactly what he did in Year 1: Attack the primary market with caution and zero in on second-contract players with remaining upside. From there, he’s addressed other needs by bringing in older players only on the secondary market. Furthermore, those deals have been laced with incentives, which provide protection down the road when those older players inevitably start to break down (more on this later).

In short: Pace isn’t afraid to upgrade the roster through free agency, but he’s not about to throw an exorbitant amount of cash towards any one player. Everyone overpays in the first few days of free agency — Pace is trying to be smart about it, knowing that very few of these signings turn out to be home runs.

2. While I think Danny Trevathan is a great signing for the Bears, it’s important to remember his injury history. He suffered three injuries to his left knee in 2014, including two bone fractures and, finally, a dislocation of the knee cap. In many cases, players are never the same after such damage, and Trevathan admitted last week that he “thought it was over” after the third injury.

That’s the same injury that once derailed the promising career of former Bears first round draft pick Gabe Carimi, by the way.

The good news, of course, is that Trevathan returned healthy in 2015 and looked fast while leading the Denver Broncos in tackles.

“He’s such a good guy and such a good player,” Darren McKee, a radio talk show host in Denver, said on my radio show last weekend. “You are going to love his attitude, his work ethic, everything. The only scary thing about Danny is his history of injuries and they’ve been pretty tough if you go back and look at it.”

McKee added that the Broncos didn’t even offer Trevathan a contract, which certainly can’t go unnoticed. Still, there’s a lot of upside in his game and it was an enormous position of need for the Bears. At four years, $24.5 million, with just $12 million guaranteed, Trevathan is a small(ish) risk worth taking.

“If he stays healthy, you guys are going to absolutely love him,” McKee said.

3. Add in Jerrell Freeman, and the Bears are considerably better at inside linebacker. Freeman, 29, falls under the category of older players Pace is willing to sign on the secondary market with incentives and he’s an above-average No. 2 inside linebacker in a 3-4.

Of course, it’s important to remember that Trevathan and Freeman aren’t Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs, but they also aren’t Shea McClellin and Christian Jones.

4. Speaking of McClellin, there’s still a small crack open in the door at Halas Hall. There doesn’t appear to be much of a market for his services around the league and if he’s willing to sign a cheap one-year deal to come back, he wouldn’t be worst backup for the Bears to have considering he handled the defensive signals last year and has a good relationship with Vic Fangio.

That said, remember all the nice things Fangio said about McClellin last season? There’s no doubt he meant them, but a lot of people read into those comments as a sign that the Bears were willing to bring McClellin back as a starter. Some advice going forward: The tape speaks much louder than what coaches say publicly and, at least with this regime, Pace/Fox/Fangio appear to watching the same tape as the rest of us.

5. The Martellus Bennett era in Chicago appears to be over. From what I gather, the decision has been made to move on without Bennett’s services and the Bears are simply trying to work out a trade to get some kind of value back. While some have suggested Bennett will only net a late-round pick, I tend to think he has more value. Bennett’s contract currently ranks 14th among tight ends in terms of total value, but over the last three seasons, he ranks fourth among tight ends in receptions, fifth in receiving yards and ninth in touchdowns. He has out-performed his contract, which is why he held out the voluntary portion of the offseason program last year with the hope he would get a new a deal. Of course, this is a potential snag in a trade, as Bennett could hold out wherever he lands. All of this — in addition to the nagging injuries and his explosive personality — make this a muddy situation to work through and it appears Pace is being patient trying to find the right value in return.

6. The Bears sure are banking on Kevin White to be great. If Bennett is traded or released, that means Pace will have gotten rid of Brandon Marshall, Matt Forte and Martellus Bennett all in the last 13 months. While those moves can be defended, it sure does put a lot of pressure on Kevin White to produce right away. That’s what you should expect from a seventh-overall draft pick, but considering White wasn’t able to play a single down as a rookie, it’s no sure thing that he’ll be able adequately pick up the slack.

So while the Bears appear to be getting better on defense with some savvy additions, I think it’s fair to ask: Are they getting any better on offense?

7. The Bears’ involvement in the C.J. Anderson sweepstakes should not be forgotten. According to Mike Klis from NBC-9 in Denver (who is very dialed in), the Bears actually offered Anderson the most money — $19 million over four years — and Anderson confirmed as much Tuesday, telling ESPN:

“If it was about the money, I would have went to Chicago because they actually offered more.”

This offer by the Bears is significant because it shows that they aren’t actually as sold on the running back duo of Jeremy Langford and Ka’Deem Carey as they’ve pretended to be. Keep that in mind as the offseason progresses (and the NFL Draft nears).

And then there’s the realization that Pace and Fox preferred Anderson over Matt Forte, the NFL’s leader in yards from scrimmage since 2008, who they didn’t even offer a contract. This part I can actually understand, at least from a business standpoint. While there’s no debating that Forte is the better running back, the Jets actually gave Forte, 30, $9 million guaranteed ($12 million total) over three years while the Broncos will retain Anderson, 25, for just $7.6 million guaranteed ($18 million total) over four years. Considering Anderson is five years younger — and these are running backs we’re talking about — I can understand the logic here.

That said, the Bears got worse at the running back position when they let Forte go. Their offer to Anderson suggests that Pace and Fox realize as much. So where do they go from here?

8. It’s interesting to see Pace include so many incentives in contracts this year. Zach Miller’s new two-year deal includes one million in annual incentives. Jerrell Freeman, 29, will get a $250,000 bonus if he makes the Pro Bowl. Tracy Porter, 29, is set to earn $1 million extra if he makes the Pro Bowl and has a total of $750,000 in “per-game” bonuses included in his three-year contract.

Incentive-laden contracts make a lot of sense for older players and Pace appears to be a fan of them. Just something to keep in mind going forward.

9. Miller, 32, may not have received as much as he was hoping for on the open market, but it was good to see him rewarded with a two-year deal worth $5.5 million. This is a guy who was almost out of football because of injuries and suffered another devastating injury in 2014 after former Bears GM Phil Emery took a chance on him. Instead of giving up, Miller spent that entire season working in the film room at Halas Hall and impressed enough people for Pace and Fox to keep him around in 2015. Finally healthy, he delivered a productive season and the Bears appear willing to move forward with Miller as their No. 1 tight end.

10. The “Jay Cutler is a bad teammate” narrative suffered yet another catastrophic blow Tuesday. Asked how much of a factor Cutler was in re-signing with the Bears, Miller said:

“Family-wise was No. 1. My wife and kids being comfortable. Jay was No. 2, to be honest with you. To be able play football with a guy like that at that position, elite arm, elite mental status that can make decisions, that was one of the biggest reasons, along with many others, but that was up there.”

Pay attention, people. Jay Cutler has the full-support of the Bears locker room, and has for awhile.

Adam Hoge covers the Chicago Bears for WGN Radio and WGNRadio.com. He also co-hosts The Beat, weekends on 720 WGN. Follow him on Twitter at @AdamHoge.