4 Offensive tackles the Chicago Bears must still consider in free agency

James Hurst

Next up on the list is a guy who has only started a full season once in his career. James Hurst should be available to the Chicago Bears on a cheap one-year, prove-it deal. This seems to be Ryan Pace’s way of signing these guys more often than not. Hurst stands 6’5″ and weighs in at 310lbs.

Hurst is even more versatile than Kelvin Beachum. He has experience playing both guard and tackle in the NFL. The one season he started all 16 games was in 2017. He only had four penalties called against him that year. That would be a breath of fresh air compared to the 13 penalties Leno saw. In 2018, Hurst started in all 10 of the games he participated in. Last season Pro Football Focus graded him at a 68.0.

Hurst should come really cheap this offseason. He was suspended by the NFL for four games this year due to violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy. Hurst was only about to receive $2.5 million this season before the Ravens released him. With a four-game suspension looming, I could see him signing a deal similar to Germain Ifedi — a veteran minimum contract with incentives to earn more money.

My guess is that Hurst will be signed very late into the offseason and this signing would make sense if the Bears landed a solid rookie to be added into the mix as well.