As free agency draws near, the Chicago Bears have a number of positional needs to address to bolster the roster heading into a new era of Bears football.
While there will be plenty of new faces to join the roster, new general manager Ryan Poles also has some important decisions to make in regards to pending free agents on the roster at the end of last season.
NFL.com’s Gil Brandt examined one free agent that every NFC team must retain. For the Bears, that was offensive lineman James Daniels, who has been solid in four years with the team.
The former second-rounder missed most of 2020 with a torn pectoral, but he bounced back with a strong season in the final year of his rookie deal, earning the best offensive and pass-blocking Pro Football Focus grades of his career thus far while starting in all 17 contests. Re-signing Daniels will make life easier for Justin Fields.
Poles made it clear the offensive line will be a focal point this offseason, where there could be a couple of starting jobs up for grabs. While that will include bringing in some new faces on the offensive line — especially those that fit Poles’ mold for offensive linemen — that also could include retaining a key member of their unit in Daniels.
Projections have Daniels set to garner anywhere from $7 to $10 million per season, which would be quite a hefty haul for Daniels. Then again, Daniels is just 24 years old and has already impressed in his short time in the league.
It’s one of many important decisions Poles will have to make in regards to the roster. Is Daniels someone he can’t afford to lose or someone he’s willing to move on from?
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