Watching the NFC and AFC Championship Games should serve as a reminder to the Chicago Bears front office of how important it is to upgrade the offensive line this offseason. All four teams — including the Super Bowl-bound Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs — excelled this season in controlling the line of scrimmage. And if the Bears want to get to football’s promised land, they’ll need to do the same.
How the Chicago Bears can fix their offensive line
It will be expensive, but fixing the Bears’ offensive line should be a top priority for this team.
The good news is that the Bears have two quality offensive tackles already in place. So it’s not as if the team needs five new starters up front. However, I will say that there were moments last year in which I wondered if the team could pull off a hockey-style line change and get better results than what it was getting with the unit that was playing.
Here is some more good news: The folks at OverTheCap.com have the Bears with $64,023,403 in available cap space. Take out the projected cost of the team’s 2025 NFL Draft picks, and that number is still a robust $54,194,590. In other words, Chicago’s football team has ample financial flexibility to work with under the cap. The ability to flex their cap space should result in the Bears upgrading their offensive line this offseason. If they don’t, there should be hell to pay.
STEP ONE: FIND A NEW CENTER
With the tackles being locked in, one position Chicago’s football team should prioritize in free agency is center. It has been a revolving door of disappointment for the Bears in the middle in recent years. We witnessed Cody Whitehair’s decline, Sam Mustipher’s struggles, Lucas Patrick’s inability to stay healthy, and Coleman Shelton’s mediocre (at best) play. Considering the results the Bears received from Patrick and Shelton, I can understand why Bears fans would be hesitant to go down the free agency path again. But maybe things will be different this time.
© Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn ImagesPro Football Focus’ Mason Cameron writes that the Bears present the best landing spot for Atlanta Falcons center Drew Dalman. The 26-year-old center has 57 games (40) starts of experience under his belt in his career and is coming off a season in which he earned a 78.8 grade from PFF that ranked fourth among his peers. Dalman’s 66.6 pass-blocking grade is ominous and ranks 22nd at the position, but his 79.8 run-blocking grade looks legit.
WHAT WILL IT COST
Pro Football Focus’ contract projections in recent years have been pretty spot on, so I figure this could be a good resource to use in this type of exercise. For what it’s worth, PFF projects Drew Dalman to get a four-year contract that includes $27.5 million in guarantees and forecasts to be worth $46 million in total.
I suppose the Bears could run it back on a one-year deal with Coleman Shelton and have him battle it out with former top-100 pick Ricky Stromberg. But if this team wants to solidify the middle of the line, signing a solid center for what looks to be a modest deal feels like a good starting point.
STEP TWO: FIND TWO NEW GUARDS
There are 10 guards who check in among the top 75 of PFF’s 2025 free agent rankings. And while I do not want to see the Bears build an offensive line solely through free agency, a mix of heady moves and thrifty signings could help patch together a broken unit.
Kansas City Chiefs guard Trey Smith is the top free-agent offensive lineman who could become available this offseason. There is a part of me that believes the Chiefs can’t run it back with everyone, which makes me think he could hit free agency. But there is also a part of me that feels as if Kansas City would try to retain one of its top offensive linemen. If Smith makes it to free agency, PFF forecasts a potential market-setting deal for the right guard. The Bears could pull it off. But for the sake of exploring other options, let’s check in on some other names and projected contracts.
Here are five guards who could be on the Bears’ radar:
Will Fries, age 26, Colts — Projected contract: 4 years, $30M guaranteed, $57.25M total Kevin Zeitler, age 34, Lions — Projected contract: 1 year, $6.25M guaranteed, $6.25M total Mekhi Becton, age 25, Eagles — Projected contract: 3 years, $17M guaranteed, $27M total Brandon Scherff, age 33, Jaguars — Projected contract: 1 year, $6M guaranteed, $6M total Aaron Banks, age 27, 49ers — Projected contract: 3 years, $15M guaranteed, $25.5M totalWHAT WILL IT COST
If the Bears end up shopping in the deep end of the pool (and they should), then they should spare no expense in bringing Trey Smith into the fold. PFF projects a four-year deal that includes $50 million in guarantees and is worth up to $82 million. Considering Chicago’s need to get it right in the trenches, I wouldn’t blink if the Bears handed Smith this offer.
Otherwise, targeting Mekhi Becton (an offensive tackle by trade who has found his niche as a guard) as a secondary target. From there, a mix-and-match with veterans (Zeitler, Scherff) and young players with upside (Banks) would (1) make sense and (2) provide the Bears a path to draft a veteran’s replacement after their one-year deal expires.
© Eric Hartline-Imagn ImagesSTEP THREE: EVALUATE BRAXTON JONES’ FUTURE
Left tackle Braxton Jones suffered a season-ending injury in the Bears’ Week 16 loss to the Lions. And while there is a belief that Jones will be back long before training camp starts, Chicago’s front office would be wise to come up with some worthwhile contingency plans.
Maybe that looks like signing a veteran like Ronnie Stanley (PFF projection: 2 yrs/$27.5M guaranteed/$40M total) or Cam Robinson (PFF: 3 yrs/$35M guaranteed/$56.25M total) to a bridge deal. Or perhaps targeting a post-hype sleeper (Browns OT Jedrick Wills’ next contract projects to be a one-year, $3 million pact) is in the cards. In any case, the Bears should prepare for Plan B in case Braxton Jones is unavailable.
In the end…
It isn’t out of the realm of possibility that the Bears shell out more than $50 million worth of guarantees to bring in some new offensive linemen this offseason. And if that is how the cookie crumbles, then so be it. Addressing the offensive line early in free agency could open up Chicago’s draft weekend options in ways that we haven’t been imagining to this point. Even if the Bears do sign three new starting offensive linemen this offseason, they should still look into the NFL Draft for prospects who could be long-term solutions.
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