Ryan Poles knows his objective this off-season: retooling the offensive line around quarterback Caleb Williams. The good news is he has a blueprint to pull this off. He was with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021 when they did the same around Patrick Mahomes. They signed prominent free agent Joe Thuney to lock down left guard and drafted center Creed Humphrey in the second round. Yet people often forget that they also delivered a blockbuster trade to bring Pro Bowl tackle Orlando Brown from Baltimore.
For all the talk about free agency and the draft, nobody has mentioned the trade market as a possible avenue for the Chicago Bears to explore. In such situations, the smart thing to do is look for teams that might be cash-strapped and looking for cap relief and picks. In this case, the Bears should be placing calls to the New Orleans Saints. They are in major cap hell right now and must find ways to escape it. One way they’ve done that in the past is by trading veteran players with big contracts. Marshon Lattimore is the most recent example.
Chicago can inquire about two names: center Erik McCoy and guard Cesar Ruiz.
Ryan Poles now has good info on both players.
New offensive line coach Dan Roushar coached both of them during his time in New Orleans. He understands precisely what they could bring to the table. McCoy is 28 and would bring the Saints $10 million in cap relief. Ruiz is 26 and would secure $9 million. There is one challenge. Both would have to be post-June 1st deals. That means the two teams must get creative to make a deal work. It isn’t impossible. Contract gymnastics can be accomplished in several ways. The trick would be for Chicago to agree to take on all of the hits.
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Either player would be an instant upgrade for this team. McCoy is a Pro Bowler. Ruiz is one of the more underrated guards in the league. Neither would cost more than a 2nd round pick to acquire. Ryan Poles has two at his disposal. The simplest path to helping the offensive line is leaning on free agency and the draft. However, if the Bears want their best chance to get a genuine difference-maker, a trade might be it. New Orleans has multiple options, provided the money can be worked out.
@jmscooby – that’s the way to do it! Trade down, ID top talent, and bring home a busload of it. Chris Morgan is gone, we can expect the new staff to train guys up properly.
I suppose the Bears can’t afford an agree to a trade for one of these guys and hold off on announcing it until June 2nd. Reality is that building your roster starts after the Super Bowl with free agency in March then the draft in May. Odds are they will have spent the heavy part of the budget by then.
I’d rather use draft picks than trade them but McCoy might be worth a 2nd if a trade down from 10 could get another 2nd and if McCoy is enough of an upgrade to justify it.
Ohio’s Seth McLaughlin could be a day three and a solid backup immediately.
Year 4, stop the poaching and do the draft. Unfortunately, it is not a good year for the offensive line, unlike last year. Trade out of #10 unless you want someone specifically to pick up another 2nd round. Scooby’s idea makes easy sense. I prefer ideally a DE and DT with the first two picks, but somewhere in the first four picks depending on the board. My favorite football players continue to be Abdul and Jihaad since the end of the last draft. Notice how each of them has steadily moved up the big boards throughout the year. They are… Read more »
Better spent $20 mill on these two guys rather than the one KC guard.