GM Ryan Poles deserves a ton of credit for what he’s done this off-season. The Chicago Bears took care of so much important business. Jaylon Johnson was locked down to a new contract. Austin Booker arrived to bolster their thin pass rush. Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze vastly upgraded their firepower. Caleb Williams hopefully become the long-lost quarterback they’ve been missing. There isn’t too much to complain about with Poles’ work over the past three months. However, there is one exception.
Center.
After cutting Cody Whitehair and letting Lucas Patrick walk in free agency, the Bears had no definitive option in the middle of their offensive line. Rather than opt for a high draft choice or a top free agent, Poles took a somewhat circuitous route. He traded a 5th round pick to Buffalo for Ryan Bates, a part-time starting guard who had a small handful of starts at center. Then, he signed Coleman Shelton, who started at the position last season for the Los Angeles Rams. While he has experience in the type of offense the Bears will run, nobody would confuse him for a massive upgrade.
NFL Network analyst and former offensive lineman Brian Baldinger expressed fears on 670 The Score that Chicago didn’t do enough at a position that is vital to offensive success.
They have a long history of doing this. Jay Hilgenberg was an undrafted free agent in the 1980s, and Olin Kreutz was a 3rd round pick. They have only drafted a center in the 2nd round or higher once in the Super Bowl era, and that was James Daniels. Whitehair was a tackle in college. The Bears planned to make him a guard before an injury to Hroniss Grasu (another 3rd round pick) forced them to shift him to the middle. He was never a center in college. This bargain-hunting method is all the more perplexing given the array of excellent interior defensive linemen they’ve had to go against in recent years.
All signs point to Bates as the current favorite to claim the starting job. Poles has clearly favored him since the Chicago Bears tried signing the veteran as a restricted free agent two years ago. The GM sees something in him. Bates played well when given opportunities, but center is unfamiliar territory. This is a calculated gamble by the Bears. It explains why they signed Shelton. He serves as good insurance if Bates doesn’t take to the transition well. Either way, it feels like this is nothing but a stop-gap measure.
