Chicago Bears sign Earl Watford

The Chicago Bears need help on the offensive line. They added depth with veteran Earl Watford

After spending four seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, Earl Watford has ended his first go at free agency. Watford broke the news himself, and tweeted out “GSH” committing to Mr. Halas and the Chicago Bears.

Watford spent his first four seasons with the Cardinals after being drafted in 2013. In 2017, he went to camp with the Jacksonville Jaguars. However, he wound up being let go before the season, and found himself back on the Cardinals.

Due to immense offensive line issues in Arizona, Watford wound up starting nine games last season.

Based on the fact that Watford was still available, and was not going to be pursued by the Cardinals, you can understand how his recent starting stint went.

The fact of the matter is that the Bears needed depth of any kind on the inside. Heading into the draft, the team was going to be pigeon holed into taking an interior offensive lineman very early. What if they miss out Quenton Nelson and James Daniels, Isaiah Wynn and Will Hernandez are gone by pick two? Does the team to reach to make it fit?

Now they can at least wait until the mid rounds if the board does not break their way. Between Hroniss Grasu, Eric Kush, Jordan Morgan, Bradley Sowell and now Watford, they can find a starting group in the mix.

Of course, that is not the desired list of names you would like to find a starter from. The Watford signing has absolutely no bearing on the Bears draft plans. They would just rather not be caught in a situation where they have to force a pick.