All options need to be taken into serious consideration by the Chicago Bears front office when addressing the offensive line this offseason. The team will be tasked will bringing in three new linemen entering the 2025 season after the unit struggled mightily last year.
Unfortunately for rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, the Bears allowed 68 sacks in total a season ago. The interior of the line will be completely revamped this offseason for multiple reasons. Not only did they majorly contribute to allowing the league-high number of sacks, but the run game suffered tremendously because of their lack of execution as well.
There are a plethora of candidates that the Bears could look to when adding to their offensive front over the next couple of months. The organization holds three picks in the first two rounds of the draft and has nearly $70 million in available cap space before cutting anyone from last year’s roster. Chicago will certainly be involved in all conversations for the top-of-the-line free agents next month, but they will need to have their backup plans ready to roll if necessary.
Will Fries can be a fallback option for the Chicago Bears
Trey Smith will be on top of the Bears’ list of free agents to chat with next month, but he will have a very busy market from the jump. The Kansas City Chief is expected to demand a five-year deal worth just around $100 million, which is more than fine for Chicago based on their available cap.
With Smith set to be an extremely hot commodity and the Bears needing multiple linemen, any candidate not under contract on the interior should be in play. Will Fries was a seventh-round draft pick of the Colts in 2021 out of Penn State. Originally a tackle, he has since kicked inside and has been successful when doing so.
In the five games that he played in during the 2024 season, Fries was a notable name to keep an eye on when Indianapolis was on offense. The 26-year-old had a strong PFF grade to begin his season, as he ranked fourth overall amongst all guards with an 86.9 mark.
Fries was a force when serving as a run blocker in 2024, having an 84.9 grade that ranked fifth amongst all guards in the league. The 2022 and 2023 campaigns saw the former Nittany Lion play in 33 games, so durability hasn’t been an issue for him with the exception of this past year.
The Chicago Bears would get Will Fries at a reasonable price
Fries fractured his right tibia in Week 5 this past season when playing on the road against Jacksonville. He is expected to be good to go for camp this season, but his serious injury definitely cost him some money this offseason.
One projection for a contract that Fries might receive this offseason from Sportrac would pay him $14.1 million per year over the course of four seasons. While this wouldn’t be a cheap deal for the Bears by any means, it would still be significantly less than what they would be paying Smith if he doesn’t land with them.
As long as Fries can bounce back from this pretty serious injury, Chicago would know exactly what they are getting out of the four-year pro. His ability to dominate in the run-blocking game is something that the Bears need badly and he would save them some cash that they could put elsewhere on the open market.
Chicago Bears should hold off on using franchise tag
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