The Chicago Bears fans are still wanting the team to add on the offensive line. While they did not hit all of their targets, it does not appear to be for lack of trying. While many national reports suggested that Chicago was on the goal line of signing Mike McGlinchey before he went to Denver, reports also suggest the same happened for Ben Powers, of the Ravens.
You can hear the quote here, and the rest of the discussion around the 14 min mark of the podcast. It is worth noting the Ben Allbright is a local Denver reporter, but he has broken national news before, and does have sources in the NFL.
"The Bears were bidding on both Powers and McGlinchey, and both chose the Broncos. And the Bears had more cap, they could have done more with it. So what does that say? "Ben Allbright
The spin from Allbright is thay says they chose Denver, potentially for the same or less money because they think Denver can win. Of course, the Chciago Bears spin will be that Denver went over a price that Chicago did not feel as good about. Either way, they both are in Denver.
This is the first real report of substance stating the Chicago Bears missed out on Powers. It does make a lot of sense though, and we highlighted that Powers could be the perfect fit for the Bears. It was not long after Powers was signed that the team added Nate Davis for a bit less than what Powers got.
You can put it together and think they missed on Powers, and went for Davis at a slightly lower price.
The reason this could be notable is because of Teven Jenkins. When the Bears signed a right guard, so many wondered if this would impact Jenkins. However, seeing that the team first went for a left guard, then only signed Davis because he was the next best on the list should affirm they were not looking to replace Jenkins.
Rather, they probably paid Davis less despite a similar profile to Powers because of the switch to left guard. Still, fans now have to deal with questions at right tackle, and a right guard moving to left guard. Had they signed McGlinchey and Powers, most fans would be praising the moves the GM made.
This is interesting to note because Ryan Poles struck out a few times last off-season as well. He missed on Brian Allen, Ryan Bates, and Larry Ogunjobi for differing reasons. Is Poles too passive in free agency, causing him to miss on some gems, or is he being smart and not overspending, waiting for the D.J. Moores of the world to pop free? Time will tell.