Chicago Bears: 8 Observations after Week 7 loss to the Rams

If the Chicago Bears trade for an offensive lineman, it should be a tackle

If the Bears step into the trade market for an offensive lineman there is a pot hole or two that could trip them up and those of us that live in Chicago know all about potholes. I suspect one of the reasons the Bears have not made a trade for an offensive lineman is that you can’t assume a new teammate who has not played in this Chicago Bears offense can hit the ground running.

Learning offenses and their blocking schemes are not an overnight matter. Even if a new player is familiar with their offense, he will not be familiar with his teammates. For all these reasons, acquiring an interior lineman is especially dicey mid season. So if the Bears do sign or trade for someone on the offensive line it should be a tackle.

The tackles typically have fewer choices to make as far as who to block when making split-second decisions. In pass protection, the offensive tackle is most often going to either block the outside rusher or a blitzer. If they acquire a new starting offensive tackle, they probably will also limit plays that have an element of complexity to the blocking scheme.

As far as I know the only good offensive tackle that might be available in a trade is the Falcons left tackle, Jake Matthews. His big contract would be the reason he is available and for possibly the same reason the Bears would not trade for him.

Matthews is currently signed through 2023. His cap hit for 2021 is 20.2 million, 2022 19.7 million and 2023 18.5 million. On the plus side he is only 28 years old. After 2020, the Bears can get out of both contracts for Leno and Bobby Massie with reasonably justifiable cap hits. If it was up to me I would make a strong play for Matthews. Good left tackles are hard to find, just ask the quarterbacks who have played for the Bears over the years.