Chicago Bears Stay or Go: Bradley Sowell
Should the Chicago Bears re-sign Bradley Sowell or let him walk in free agency
The Chicago Bears have had an interesting relationship with Bradley Sowell. After moving from offensive tackle to tight end, Sowell spent most of the season riding the waiver wire.
Essentially, the Bears would sign Sowell on Monday and he would spend the week practicing. On Saturday, he would be released and not apart of the team for Sunday. Then, on Monday, he was signed again.
This went on throughout the year, and Sowell wound up active for just six games. Now, Sowell enters the offseason as a free agent. Is he worth bringing back or should the Bears just move on?
Stay
The Chicago Bears have already put in the time in making the transition from tackle to tight end. They had to know it was going to take more than one season to see this switch come to fruition. The Bears stuck by Sowell all season, even though he did not contribute. They had to have seen development in practice throughout the week to keep bringing him back after every game.
The team needs a tight end in the worst way, and the blocking prowess that Sowell adds is a huge value and complement to other tight end options who are better receivers.
Sowell is a tight end with no experience at the position and has only practiced the position in front of the Bears coaching staff. He has no market. The Bears can offer a minimum salary and see how he looks after a full offseason and year of work.
Go
They spent on a year on the transition and the feeling has been more pessimistic than optimistic. The Bears likely kept him around because of the position switch. It would be rough to make him lose all that weight and cut him a month into his transition.
With that said, if the Bears had real interest in what he could become, they would at least let him stay on the roster for some gamedays.
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It is tough to see this experiment turning into anything, and the team should be using every last roster spot on legitimate tight end options. If that means bringing in a true blocking tight end and letting Sowell go, so be it.