Did the Chicago Bears miss out on signing Billy Turner?

While Billy Turner adds more experience than the current free agent crush of the Chicago Bears — most notably their fan base— in Ryan Bates, did the Bears miss out on the former Packer?

Well, that’s an easy question to look at after a deal is already done, that way it’s already public information on what the free agent would take. In the bidding game, who knows if that number is as public to those that either isn’t the athlete or the agent.

After spending a few seasons in Green Bay, Billy Turner returns to the Denver Broncos on a one-year deal worth up to $5 million.

Looking at the numbers, did the Chicago Bears miss out by not signing Billy Turner to a deal similar to that? Well, as said earlier, who knows if that deal was a deal he would’ve taken to go to the Chicago Bears.

Did the Chicago Bears miss out on former Packers’ OG/OT Billy Turner?

It makes sense to see Turner head to the Broncos, as the Packers’ former offensive coordinator, Nathaniel Hackett, is now the Broncos’ new head coach. So, could Billy Turner have taken less money to return to not only a familiar field but to a familiar coach as well? It’s likely.

It’s not guaranteed that Turner if offered the same deal as Denver, would accept a deal to play with the Chicago Bears. However, one tie that could’ve sweetened the pot is the fact that Turner would be “reuniting” with Luke Getsy, who also was involved with the Packers’ offense last year.

Now, Getsy’s position and Hackett’s position likely had different involvement with Turner and the offensive line, but it could be possible that Getsy is a reason the Chicago Bears didn’t pursue the nine-year veteran OG/OT.

With Getsy being the former passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach of the Packers, the most involved Getsy got with Billy Turner is watching him dirty up Aaron Rodgers’ jersey on pass protection.

Sure, while Billy Turner has experience playing guard and tackle— an admiral trait of any NFL offensive lineman— his ability to pass-block was often questioned.

Now, this could be seen as cherry-picking against Billy Turner, as he’s going up against Montez Sweat, but there are multiple examples of Turner not being able to be a threat against pass-rushers.

Last season, Turner actually held his own rather well as a pass-blocker. In 810 total offensive snaps, Turner only gave up three total sacks. However, in 2019— Turner’s first season with the Packers— Billy Turner’s pass-blocking was exposed as what it is: not very good.

In a total of 1,076 offensive snaps, Billy Turner gave up the second-most sacks by an offensive lineman last year with six.

That being said, what Turner can do in the run game is far more admirable than what he can do in pass protection. And with his experience at guard combined with his size (6’5″, 310 lbs), it makes sense that he’s better at moving and driving people out of holes than he is at pass-setting and stopping the rush.

Lastly, Turner isn’t necessarily the prototype Ryan Poles has drawn up in his head when he explained the type of players he wants on the Chicago Bears.

So, while Billy Turner was surely a fun name to think of as a new member of the Chicago Bears, it might be for the best that Ryan Poles and Company didn’t entertain the idea too much.