Winners and losers of the Chicago Bears 2022 season
By Evan Bruner
Chicago Bears Loser: Lucas Patrick, IOL
The Bears played it safe in the 2022 offseason, opting to sign relatively cheap players rather than paying up for the premier free agents. This approach led to the signing of former Green Bay Packer Lucas Patrick.
While no one viewed Patrick as a star, he was expected to be a significant contributor. He had experience at left guard, right guard, and center and was coming off one of the best seasons of his career. Further, the Bears chose to sign Patrick instead of keeping former second-round draft pick James Daniels who signed a three-year 26.5 million dollar deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Patrick failed to see the field much this season largely due to injury, and when he got in, his play was underwhelming, being thoroughly outplayed by Teven Jenkins. Despite being touted as a plug-and-play at all three interior positions, Patrick only played ten at center, forcing Sam Mustipher to continue playing there.
The relatively inexpensive contract stops the signing from being as heavily scrutinized, but Ryan Poles’ biggest attempt to get Justin Fields better interior protection for this season fell flat. As a result, Patrick will likely be a backup in 2023 and possibly for the remainder of his pro career.