Chicago Bears: Grading their first day of free agency

Nate Davis, OG

Once again, Poles surprised many people with his moves. The Chicago Bears offensive line has a need at tackle, more specifically right tackle. Many fans would be happy if the Bears signed a left tackle and moved Braxton Jones over to right tackle.

Then the linemen started to come off the board. One by one, many of the players fans were excited about possibly coming to Chicago and ended up going elsewhere. Then, when Poles finally signed a lineman, it wasn’t a tackle, it was a guard. He signed Nate Davis to a three-year, $30 million deal, with $19.5 million guaranteed.

Guard was a spot that people felt wasn’t a need. The Bears have Cody Whitehair and Teven Jenkins who did a pretty good job in 2022. Does the Davis signing signal a bigger move along the line? Davis is a right guard who had a good season in 2022.

Davis played a total of 682 snaps at right guard, receiving a run blocking grade of 69.8, pass blocking grade of 66.8, and an overall grade of 70.6 from Pro Football Focus. He only allowed 3.0 sacks and was whistled for four penalties.

The question now is what happens at guard. Does it mean that either Whitehair or Jenkins gets dealt? It makes sense if it is Whitehair. If the Bears trade or release him, they save either $5.8 million (pre-June 1st designation) or $9.9 million (post-June 1st).

The Bears could also decide to take a chance on Jenkins at right tackle. They could keep Whitehair and plug Davis in at right guard. That would be a risk, however. This adds more intrigue to the offseason. It will be fun to watch what Poles’ plans are for the offensive line.