On February 1, 1993, close to 400 NFL players became unrestricted free agents for the first time. A court ruling had prompted the NFL to implement the system, which granted any player with 5 years of service that was not under contract the right to negotiate with any team. Along with free agency came a salary cap, putting a ceiling on the amount of money each team could spend on total player salaries. Clearly, the NFL landscape was completely different.

Bears that became free agents on February 1st were RB Brad Muster, DB's Lemuel Stinson, David Tate and Maurice Douglass, QB Jim Harbaugh, TE Jim Thornton, K Kevin Butler, WR's Dennis Gentry and Glen Kozlowski, DT Steve McMichael, LB Ron Rivera, and offensive linemen Keith van Horne and John Wojciechowski.

Under the new system, each team was allowed to name one player as the team's franchise player, which guaranteed the player the average salary of the top five players at the position in the league. If another team signed a franchise player, that team would owe the former organization two first-round draft picks as compensation. The Bears did not designate any player with this tag until Lance Briggs was tagged in 2007.

Teams also could designate up to two players as transition players. The transition tag allowed the team to have right of first refusal should another team offer the player a contract, guaranteed the player the average of the top ten salaries at the position, but did not provide for draft pick compensation to the former team. Bracing for their contracts to come up in the next year, the Bears named defensive backs Donnell Woolford and Mark Carrier their transition players.

Chicago made quick work on their roster by recommending that WR/RB/KR Dennis Gentry retire after an 11-year Chicago career. They declined to offer ten-year veteran linebacker Ron Rivera a contract.

In the biggest splash with their own free agents, the Bears made Jim Harbaugh the richest Bear in history by signing him to a four-year deal worth $13 million. The contract paid Harbaugh $5 million guaranteed in the first season. Harbaugh reportedly turned down more money from the then-Los Angeles Raiders to stay in Chicago.

While Green Bay made the biggest free agent splash in the NFL, the Bears were quiet.  Their biggest acquisition was cornerback Anthony Blaylock, who would be supplanted in the lineup by Jeremy Lincoln at season's end. 

All of the aforementioned players were re-signed by Chicago with the exception of Muster, Tate and Thornton. Stinson was cut in training camp and Kozlowski was released later.

 

Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dave Wannstedt, a Pittsburgh-area native like Mike Ditka, was introduced as the 11th Head Coach in Chicago Bears history on January 19th, 1993. Wannstedt was the consensus hottest head coaching candidate on the market that year, and he accepted the position before coaching the Cowboys through the playoffs and Super Bowl 27. The hiring came two weeks after the firing of Ditka and 23 days after the conclusion of the 1992 season. Team President Michael McCaskey went on vacation immediately following the conclusion of the season, allowing Ditka to twist in the wind for nine days before learning his fate. Wannstedt quickly hired lifelong coaching friends Bob Slowik (defensive coordinator) and Tony Wise (offensive line). He also hired Ron Turner, brother of Dallas offensive coordinator Norv Turner, for the same position in Chicago. A peculiar first order of business for Wannstedt was to announce in February that the Bears would no longer wear black shoes as they had under Ditka. The change would have to wait until June as the team had 1,000 pairs of black shoes in stock, as reported by the Bear Report. Along with the Bears' coaching change came a massive player personnel rules change when true free agency was adopted for the first time. (See the free agency side story). Wannstedt's focus in rebuilding the Bears was on increasing team speed, and to that end he not only drafted speedster Curtis Conway in the first round, but also suggested that longtime WR/RB/KR Dennis Gentry retire. Ten-year veteran linebacker Ron Rivera was not offered a contract. In the season opener at home against the New York Giants, the Bears held a one-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but Phil Simms drove his team for the winning touchdown with just over a minute left to play. The loss broke the Bears' streak of season-opening wins at nine in a row. The Bears would end up with a 3-3 opening day record under Wannstedt. In the Giants loss, the defensive secondary openly admitted that all of the defenders were playing different coverages on the final drive. 1993 was MLB Dante Jones' chance to prove he could replace the legend Mike Singletary, and in this season at least he succeeded. Jones compiled 189 tackles, four interceptions, three forced fumbles and a sack in what was thought to be a Pro Bowl season. Veteran wide receiver Wendell Davis ruptured the patella tendons in both of his knees at Philadelphia on October 10th. As he was diving for a Harbaugh overthrow, both of Davis'feet got stuck in a crease in Veterans Stadium's notorously bad turf, and his career was over. Chicago's offensive line went through its first major transition in a decade in 1993. The stalwart group of Covert, Bortz, Hilgenberg, Thayer and Van Horne, missing Hilgenberg and Covert before the season, was on its last leg. Many line combinations were tried throughout 1993, including starting future guard Jay Leewuenburg at the critical left tackle spot. The results were mainly disasterous, but the season finished with the combination of Troy Auzenne, Bortz, Jerry Fontenot, John Wojciechowski and Leeuwenburg. The hybrid Dallas/San Francisco offense Wannstedt and Turner created was predicated on a strong blocking fullback and a halfback that operated out of the I-formation. This was as opposed to recent Bears teams splitting carries between the fullback and halfback, operating often out of the pro set. So it was interesting that the coaches sometimes employed what they called the "Rhino Formation", with fullback Craig Heyward lined up deep in the I with one of the backup fullbacks, Bob Christian or John Ivlow (who were smaller than the "Ironhead") as the up-back. The Rhino did not last past 1993, as Heyward was out of shape and cut. Incidentally, Ivlow was a high school friend of mine and now is the Head Football Coach at Bolingbrook High School (IL). He spent one season with the Bears, went on to earn a Super Bowl ring at San Francisco in 1994, then retired due to injury. The Bears were actually tied for first place in the NFC Central after Thanksgiving with a 7-5 record, but went on to lose the final four games of the season, finishing 7-9 in Wannstedt's rookie campaign.

A new era began in the NFL on February 1, 1993, as nearly 400 NFL veterans became unrestricted free agents for the first time in their careers.  Marquee NFL players that became free agents included Wilber Marshall (Washington), Reggie White, Clyde Simmons and Seth Joyner (Philadelphia), Steve Young (San Francisco), Neil Smith (Kansas City) and Morten Andersen (New Orleans).  Green Bay signed what turned out to be the hottest commodity to change teams: defensive end Reggie White.  Many saw White's visit to Green Bay as a test of the new free agent system: would a superstar like White willingly go to a city like Green Bay?  He did to the tune of $17 million over four years, but only after White said God told him Green Bay was the place he should go.  Speaking of the Kansas City, the Chiefs may have added the most end-of-career legends by signing QB Joe Montana and RB Marcus Allen.  San Francisco had to reluctantly part ways with Montana when free agency and the salary cap forced them to go with the younger Steve Young.  In the NFC Central in 1993, Detroit won its second division title in three years, and three teams (Minnesota and Green Bay also) went to the playoffs.  The Dallas Cowboys won their second straight NFC Championship, while Buffalo edged out Montana's Chiefs to win the AFC for the fourth year in a row.  The Cowboys won their second straight Super Bowl over Buffalo, 30-13, in Atlanta.