Chicago Bears: Free agents available to replace Ryan Bates

The Chicago Bears could look to sign Quinton Spain

After going undrafted to the Tennessee Titans in 2015, Quinton Spain has made a nice career in the NFL. Spain immediately saw playing time in Tennessee starting six games as a rookie before becoming the full-time starter every year following that. He stayed in Tennessee until 2018 when he joined the Buffalo Bills in 2019 on a one-year deal.

In Buffalo in 2019, he did not allow a single sack and only accumulated four penalties. He then got a nice three-year contract extension for $15 million. He started the first two games before being benched in favor of two players that actually performed worse than he did.

Spain then joined the Cincinnati Bengals midseason and started half of the season. The Bengals then brought him back for 2021. He was highlighted for getting absolutely smoked in the Super Bowl against Aaron Donald but c’mon. It’s fourth down with the Super Bowl on the line. Nobody is stopping Donald. Outside of that, Spain had a very solid season in Cincinnati only allowing five sacks and accumulating four penalties.

Essentially, Spain can serve the same role in Chicago that he did in Buffalo: the stop-gap offensive guard while the young guys develop under him. He can play at a solid level as a clean pass protector who doesn’t accumulate a lot of penalties and can protect Justin Fields for the time being.