This was inevitable. Nick Roach was tendered at a second-round level, so the Bears would have received a second-round pick had they allowed him to sign somewhere else; obviously, that was never going to happen.

Roach is a nice linebacker to have returning, hopefully, because he'll be more confined to the role he's supposed to play. Injuries to Pisa Tinoisamoa and Brian Urlacher forced Roach into different positions and more playing time, that maybe Roach wasn't capable of playing.

He's about as average as they come. Based on the grading done at ProFootballFocus.com, Roach usually hovered around the 0.0 mark -- or average mark -- after each game. He excelled in a few games -- vs. Detroit, vs. Cleveland, at Seattle and at San Francisco -- but when the Bears faced a quality opponent, Roach went back to being average.

The one notable exception being the game at Cincinnati; there he was just horrible.

Games like the Bengals catastrophe, at least in part, are why Roach is set to take part in the "epic" strongside linebacker competition that will occur in Bourbonnais this summer -- along with Hunter Hillenmeyer and Tinoisamoa. Because even though he stepped in to play three games at middle linebacker, it was at that position where Roach showed some of his deficiencies -- can't cover the deep middle or play on passing downs in general.

Hard to prove this, but Football Outsiders suggests the defense looked lost and confused when Roach was the middle linebacker making the calls, as well.

The ProFootballFocus numbers back up Roach's pass coverage issues. Last season, Roach was at his best when he was on the field in running downs. He was above average against the run and as a pass rusher, but when he was forced to play every snap (like he was during his three games at MLB) he was exposed as poor pass defender.

Back at strongside, where hopefully he'll be all season, Roach would be replaced on passing downs by a nickelback. Plus, there will be at least one other solid veteran to take his place.