How the Bears handled Drew Dalman’s retirement situation looks even better after the latest mistake made by a division rival
The Chicago Bears were faced with a tough situation when Pro Bowl center Drew Dalman announced his retirement, but the team handled things perfectly.
The Chicago Bears were forced into a tough situation when 27-year-old center Drew Dalman announced his retirement, one year into a three-year contract he signed with the team.
Not only did the Bears invest a lot of money into Dalman last offseason, they were also unexpectedly losing a Pro Bowl player at a critical position right before the start of free agency. It was tough news for the Bears to process but the firm decision was Dalman’s to make and one Chicago had to respect.
“There’s naturally that selfish desire – ‘No, no, no, I want to change his mind.’ But that’s not why we do what we do,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson said at the NFL Annual Meeting. “We have to do what’s right for the team and the organization but it’s also really important that his concerns are taken care of. You could tell pretty quickly that he’s a smart guy. This was not a rash decision. I think out of respect to him, I had pretty good confidence this was the direction that was going to go.”
When a situation like that arises, there’s two different directions a team can go from a financial standpoint. Chicago went about things the correct way, unlike a division rival.
Detroit Lions forced Frank Ragnow to pay back part of his signing bonus after retiring
Last summer, Detroit Lions center Frank Ragnow announced his retirement mainly due to injuries. Ragnow attempted to return in November but failed his physical due to a hamstring injury. That door now seems to be closed, but the conversation surrounding Ragnow’s retirement isn’t over.
On Monday, Lions President Rod Wood confirmed the team required Ragnow to pay back a portion of his signing bonus. Teams technically have the right to do such a thing, but it’s viewed as a bad look by the team. The Lions are no strangers to doing such a thing.
Detroit also forced franchise legends Calvin Johnson and Barry Sanders to pay back a portion of their signing bonus after retiring early from their contract. Wood took a pretty strong stance on the situation saying the players are simply giving back money that was “paid in advance for services that they hadn’t completed.”
“It’s the Lions’ money,” Wood added, via the Detroit Free Press. “It’s not the player’s money.”
It’s a controversial approach and one the Lions remain committed to as a franchise despite the negative backlash the team continues to receive for doing such a thing. Thankfully, it doesn’t sound like the Bears are taking that approach with Dalman.
Ben Johnson is pleased with the Bears for the way the team pivoted after losing Drew Dalman
As for the on-field situation, the Bears quickly pivoted to find a new starting center, a position Johnson considers to be the “quarterback of the offensive line” and mainly responsible for the run game.
The solution was making a trade with the New England Patriots to acquire veteran center Garrett Bradbury, whom Johnson said will fit the team “like a glove” while having prior experience working to the right of Bears All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney.
“[Bradbury] had a lot of success last year; made it to the Super Bowl,” Johnson explained. “Very cerebral player. Joe Thuney knows him really well, so there’s some natural chemistry that I think we’re going to have on the inside. He’s going to fit what we like to do in the run game with our wide zone, running off the football. And when we watched him, we felt really good about what he did in pass pro as well. I think he’s going to be really what the doctor ordered for us in terms of [replacing] a guy like Drew.”
For as tough as of a situation as that was, the Bears did the right thing with how they handled Dalman’s retirement and quickly made sure that a strength up-front remained strong.
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