Bobby Massie has been cut. Germain Ifedi is a free agent. The Chicago Bears have some questions they need to answer at the right tackle position. This isn’t a shock. Seeing the salary cap plunge to $182.5 million meant there were going to be some sacrifices. It’s now a matter of whether GM Ryan Pace can find solutions without breaking the bank. Perhaps he can lean on Matt Nagy to help.
The Bears head coach has utilized his strong connections to Kansas City in the past. It’s now possible for him to do so again. The Chiefs are in the midst of a cap crunch of their own. One that saw them forced to make a difficult decision on Thursday, parting ways with both of their starting tackles in Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz. While unfortunate for the players, it does present an opportunity for Chicago.
Presuming a few things work out in their favor.
And Mitch Schwartz as well, according to source. Both long time starting tackles are gone. https://t.co/HojItbS6F0
— Adam Teicher (@adamteicher) March 11, 2021
Mitch Schwartz was just dialed in on Sunday. Watch his hands here. Fakes a punch to get Watt to extend and grasp at air, putting him off balance. Then just rides him around the corner. pic.twitter.com/n1ZZy6DL2a
— Seth Keysor (@RealMNchiefsfan) January 14, 2020
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Schwartz was arguably the best right tackle in the NFL in 2019. Absolutely dominant. Especially down the playoff stretch that resulted in a Super Bowl title. Last year was frustrating due to a back injury that knocked him out most of the season. He should be healthy by the time training camp starts this year. At 31-years old, there is no reason to think he can’t still be effective.
There are a couple of issues from the Bears’ perspective. How much would he cost and is he committed to playing in 2021? There are rumblings that Schwartz may opt for retirement though that isn’t confirmed yet. Obviously, former All-Pro right tackles figure to be expensive. Chicago doesn’t have salary cap to throw around. So Schwartz would need to be generous in what he accepts at least for this season. Perhaps a back-loaded deal with a low 2021 cap hit.
The Chicago Bears need to consider this move
Schwartz is a great player. What happened last year was an anomaly. He isn’t known for being injury-prone. If the Bears are looking for a short-term solution to their tackle problem, they could do way worse. Especially if they can’t land one in the 1st round of the draft. Either because the best ones are taken or because they end up trading that pick for a certain quarterback.
Schwartz knows Nagy well. They worked together for years. One would have to think the veteran tackle would prefer to go somewhere he’d be comfortable. Playing under Nagy in a familiar system certainly seems appealing. Especially if the Bears manage to land a quarterback of note. He likely won’t go somewhere a team is starting over at that position.
All things considered, this at least shows Chicago has some options.
Free agency in 2021 is going to be a buyers market. So many teams have had to cut prominent players due to the salary cap squeeze. This means a lot of guys may end up having to take cheap one-year deals to stick on teams this season. Then they can seek bigger paydays in 2022 when the cap is expected to rise again. If Schwartz is open to keep playing, the Chicago Bears have plenty of good reasons to call him up.