Chicago Bears: 5 Free agent offensive linemen to target this offseason

The Chicago Bears need to focus on these 5 free agent offensive linemen in 2021

If the Chicago Bears are going to handle the 2021 free agency period correctly then it needs to involve signing veteran offensive linemen to team-friendly contracts. You take a look at the Bears offensive line entering the 2020 season: James Daniels (23), Sam Mustipher (24), Alex Bars (25), Cody Whitehair (28) and Charles Leno Jr. (29).

Not only is that still a young group of linemen, but they’re all still under contract next season assuming the Bears bring back Mustipher and Bars as ERFA’s. The injury bug has plagued Daniels with a torn pectoral that cost him the season and Bobby Massie (31), who has been dealing with a knee injury.

Despite all of the adversity, the Bears offensive line has created gaps for the running game during the back half of the season, but there will still be shoes to fill during the offseason. Germain Ifedi (26), Jason Spriggs (26), and Rashaad Coward (26) are three tackles hitting free agency that the Bears can easily replace. They can find their replacements in free agency, by trade, or in the draft, but free agency might be the way to go with the open field of talent available.

Given the youth at the position, the Bears could stand to bring in some veterans hovering around 30-years-old. As nice as it would be to sign Brandon Scherff (WAS) or Joe Thuney (NE) at the guard spots, both of their market values sit around $15 million. The best plan of attack is to sign linemen with market values ranging from $3-6 million, that way the Bears front office doesn’t overpay on a free agent when the team can still draft offensive linemen.