Bears can fill final roster spot ahead of training camp by bringing in experienced player to boost competition
Following the official signings of tight end Marcedes Lewis and wide receiver DeAndre Carter, the Chicago Bears have just one spot remaining on the 90-man roster ahead of training camp next month.After OTAs and minicamp, the main concerns still left to be answered on the roster has to be in the trenches, both offensively and […]
Following the official signings of tight end Marcedes Lewis and wide receiver DeAndre Carter, the Chicago Bears have just one spot remaining on the 90-man roster ahead of training camp next month.
After OTAs and minicamp, the main concerns still left to be answered on the roster has to be in the trenches, both offensively and defensively.
While many project the Bears will look to bring in a veteran defensive lineman before camp, an experienced interior offensive lineman the Bears could be interested in signing just added some fuel to his free agent market.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, former Miami Dolphins starting center Connor Williams expects to be ready for the start of the 2024 season and has had discussions with multiple teams about where to play this upcoming season. Williams is expected to pick his new team before training camp.
The former second-round draft pick suffered an ACL tear in Week 14 of the 2023 season, an injury that derailed his potential free agent market this offseason. The Bears were one of the teams expected to be interested in adding Williams earlier this offseason but his injury concerns forced Chicago and many other interested teams to look another direction.
Now that Williams has put his injury concerns to rest for the 2024 season, the Bears could look back into him, despite already investing in the position after trading for Ryan Bates and signing Coleman Shelton.
During OTAs and minicamp, Bates and Shelton rotated back and forth with the first-team at the center position with neither one being able to outshine the other. The Bears also have some concerns at right guard with Nate Davis continuing to miss practice or participate in a limited role.
Adding Williams to the unit up-front would create even more competition at center and will allow Bates to compete against Davis for the starting right guard job. It also gives the Bears one more veteran with experience at multiple positions that can provide even more high-end depth to the unit that desperately needed it last season.
Money, of course, will be a massive hurdle in more ways than one. For starters, since Williams has interest from multiple teams, the Bears will have to out-bid for his talents. Th Bears currently have just over $21 million in available cap space, per OverTheCap, but still haven't signed their first two draft picks, Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze. Those two deals will certainly eat into that number, meaning the free agent would have to play on an incentive-laden contract.
Doing all of this to bring in a player coming off such a significant injury is also counter to how general manager Ryan Poles is attempting to build the team. However, if the coaching staff isn't impressed from what they've seen out of the unit during the summer so far, it might be worth it to protect the team's rookie quarterback with the best players possible this season.
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He’s been turning the right heads.
