Bears passes on free agent oline
ESPN analyst Jeremy Fowler reported that the Chicago Bears liked offensive lineman Chukwuma Okorafor, but they weren't willing to match the 3-year, 29 million deal he received from the Steelers.
Okorafor is 24 and he has played 4 seasons with the Steelers thus far. While he is a very promising player, Ryan Poles judged he was not worth this kind of money.
"Overall, Chicago took a prudent approach to Ryan Poles' first free agency as the Bears' GM. The team identified several players as great fits but not worth a bidding war. One example was right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor. He could have been a Bear, but not at three years and $29.25 million, which Pittsburgh was willing to pay to re-sign him."
As for the Bears, there are still some concerns on their offensive line, including a crucial hole at right guard. Chicago signed Lucas Patrick to serve as the starting center, but the rest of the line is still very uncertain at this point.
We heard reports that Cody Whitehair will potentially still serve as one of the tackles while Teven Jenkins and Larry Borom will fight for the other spot. Ryan Poles will certainly try to bring in some competition in the draft and it looks like he is not done bringing in free agents. He met with Buffalo Bills' Ryan Bates a few days ago.
One thing is for sure, at the moment, this line is not good enough to protect QB Justin Fields adequately.
