Chicago Bears: Big decision looms on Kyle Long

The Chicago Bears have some big decisions to make this offseason to continue their positive roll. One of them involves whether to keep offensive lineman Kyle Long. He’s very popular but the injuries keep piling on.

The Chicago Bears had a great 2018. They made the playoffs and won the division for the first time since 2010 and had the NFL Coach of the Year and Assistant Coach of the Year in first-year head coach  Matt Nagy and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, respectively.

In order to continue that success and go even further, the Bears have some big decisions to  make. They made one early by re-signing offensive lineman Bobby Massie. They face another on along the line, though. General manager Ryan Pace and the rest of the front office need to make a decision on Kyle Long.

The Bears need to decide whether to keep Long another three seasons or cut their ties. There is a buyout this offseason that saves the team $5.5 million. If they keep him, they’re on the hook for $27 million in salary cap space over the next three seasons.

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Long is an extremely popular player. The fans love his intensity and he is a great Twitter follow. The fact of the matter is, however, he’s spending way too much time in the trainer’s room than on the field. In his first three seasons in a Chicago Bears uniform, Long went to three Pro Bowls and missed just one game. In his last three seasons he’s missed 22 games and no Pro Bowl appearances.

Over those three seasons, Long battled foot, ankle, shoulder, and even finger injuries that either kept him out of games or prevented him from finishing games.

Long enters the 2019 season at age 30. As a player, especially a lineman, ages, his injury history doesn’t get any better. Long already has a long list of injuries, and as he ages those get worse and he likely injures other parts of his body.

The Bears have a roster that is ready to compete in the playoffs for some time (barring injuries of course). They need to tinker here and there to keep the momentum they got in 2018 going. Having a key player continually miss time on the field stunts that momentum.

The Bears enter the 2019 offseason with the 10th lowest salary cap space carried over from 2018 with $3.6 million. That number is the lowest in the NFC North. There will be an increase in the salary cap so they’ll have more money. Even so, the team needs to make some cuts to free up even more cap space.

One of those cuts could be Long. If the Bears do exercise the buyout, they save themselves $5.5 million. That allows them to hit the free agent market and get a player and have some money to help at another position.

Another move could be to draft a replacement. You can find a lot of good linemen in the middle of the draft. The Bears don’t get in until the third round and that is a good place to find a starter. They can even look for a guard on either side if they decide to move James Daniels, who had a strong rookie season, over to Long’s spot.

I understand the people who say the Bears need to keep the continuity on the line. The line did a terrific job in 2018, especially under the direction of offensive line coach Harry Hiestand. However, when you look at what the line did in Long’s absence, one can be assured that the line can improve even more with someone who can play an entire season. I just don’t think Long is that player anymore.