Free agency needs to be taken for what it’s worth.

The team relying on free agency too much eventually winds up like Ryan Poles’ first Bears team. The new GM inherits a salary cap full of huge contracts belonging to overrated players and needs a full season of bludgeoning the roster to prepare it for something better in the future.

Thanks a lot Ryan Pace.

This is why the draft is so important.

However, sometimes holes happen. There needs to be judicious use of free agency to fix those problems.

A good use of free agency is bringing in a veteran who can fill a gap until a younger player develops. Another is having a roster only a player or two from either winning a Super Bowl or being a playoff team, then going out and spending what you need to spend to get that necessary player or players.

On the other hand, a poor use is a 7-10 team going out and throwing gobs of money at one particular player when they still have numerous lineup holes.

So there are dos and don’ts for every team in free agency based on their particular situation.

Here are the 10 dos and don’ts for the Bears in this particular free agency period.

1. Do inquire about DT Chris Jones and his salary demands. Don’t expect to be interested in signing  him with the Bears.

The dominant Chiefs defensive lineman would be an ideal fit for the Bears, playing 3-technique or even moving around to confuse opponents. He has this capability. However, he is already preoccupied with prolonging a championship run and pronounced his love for his current team at the post-Super Bowl celebration. After applying the $19.8 million tag to Jaylon Johnson and making their trade for Ryan Bates, the Bears are listed by Overthecap.com at $44.48 million in effective cap space available. They’re now down to sixth place in available space and there are plenty of spots to address. Throwing around the kind of money being mentioned for Jones—$30 million or more a year—is going to leave very little for other need positions.