3 Bears players who shouldn't be back in 2024, and 3 that should

2. Cody Whitehair, G/C

Center has largely been an issue for this Bears team for a couple years now. We thought the position would have been solved after signing Lucas Patrick, who could have been plugged in as either a guard or a center. But, Patrick has proven to struggle as well as Whitehair.

Entering his age-32 season and not having been the same player he was a few years back, it's time for the Bears to move on from Whitehair. The financials, if anything, are reason enough. This coming season, Whitehair's cap hit sits at $13.25 million. If the team opted to cut him, there would be a savings of just over $9 million.

That's a lot of money to be saved for a player you're attempting to replace. And again, all financials aside, Whitehair has regressed over the past three seasons. He's had issues with inconsistent snaps at center but has also had areas of weakness as a guard.

This offseason, the Bears need to move in a completely new direction at center, saying goodbye to one of the longest-tenured Bears on the roster.