As unpleasant as any conversation about Ray McDonald may be, there is still a football discussion needing to be had as the Bears must now replace a potentially key part of their defense. There’s no question the Bears made the right call in cutting McDonald. He needed to prove he could stay out of trouble and he didn’t. By releasing him they became a better organization. But they will be a worse team if young players don’t step up because McDonald was going to be the team’s best defensive lineman.
The obvious players to fill the void are second-year linemen Will Sutton and Ego Ferguson, who will now figure to see quite a bit of playing time simply because the team lacks capable bodies on the defensive line.