NFL expert believes Ryan Bates will end up with the Bears!
Yesterday, the Bears agreed to terms with offensive guard Ryan Bates. It was confirmed that he signed an offer sheet to play for the Chicago Bears.
Once the offer sheet is filed with the NFL, the Bills will have five days to match the Bears' offer or they will lose Bates without any form of compensation. As a restricted free agent, Bates' rights were retained by the Bills last week when the organization tendered him a one-year, $2.433M contract.
According to John Wawrow of the Washington Post, the Bills' chances of re-signing Bates are very slim.
"Buffalo has very limited space under its salary cap, which already counts Bates' contract, and the team would have to free up additional space to match the Bears' offer." he said.
Another point that could help us greatly in order to obtain Bates is that the Bills already signed Rodger Saffold III at the start of free agency. The Bills said word for word that they expect him to be starting at left guard in 2022. This leads us to believe they will not mortgage their future for a lineman that might not even have a spot to start in 2022...
Bates is only 25 and played in all 17 games for the Bills last year. He showed great promise and versatility playing both guard spots and could fit right in. The advanced metrics show that he is technically sound and could benefit from an increased snap count. Last season, he played 294 snaps and allowed 0 sacks and only had 1 penalty. This is seriously great stuff!
While some fans could be concerned because of the lack of experience Bates has, I don't mind at all. The main reason he did not start that many games is because of the overflow of talent on the Bills roster. Bates could be the long-term answer at right guard for the Bears.
He would be a great, young signing for Chicago's team. Let's just hope Ryan Poles is able to offer him a contract that the Bills are not able or willing to match! It is important to mention that the Bills are one of the teams with the least cap space per OvertheCap.com. The number is changing daily but they are currently $24,120 under the cap. It's not impossible that they match Bates' offer, but I think it is unlikely.
