Bears Could Use Trade or Even Two on Offensive Line

After James Daniel's injury, the Bears seemed a perfect team to be involved in a trade for an offensive lineman before Tuesday afternoon's trade deadline..

Now it seems GM Ryan Pace has to trade for an entire offensive line, not one lineman.

The severity of the knee injury to right tackle Bobby Massie isn't yet known but he was unable to return to Sunday's game. His replacement, Jason Spriggs, left briefly due to a leg issue but returned and finished. They still have Alex Bars, who is largely untested.

Of course the Bears are playing with backup center Sam Mustipher while Cody Whitehair heals from a calf injury, and they're without left guard James Daniels for the rest of the season. So Sunday, the five line positions included one player who had been at his position in the Bears line last year, left tackle Charles Leno Jr.

"We had some luxury there early on in the season with consistency in the offensive line and now what you’re seeing is you’re seeing some guys get injured and it’s new pieces, it’s new voices," Bears coach Matt Nagy said. "It’s new. And so, unfortunately, we’re seeing some of that go on. Guys are battling through stuff."

They could use even someone else new.

The need for someone with experience to come in on the line seems greater than ever, though the efforts of Mustipher and Co. probably deserve some recognition for run blocking even if they did get Nick Foles sacked a season-high five times. 

"I would say this, when you, whether it’s the offense or the defense, a lot of things start up front and they know that, the players know it, our coaches know it," Nagy said.. "When you have a little bit of a lack of consistency, and I’m talking more health-wise, you've got different guys up there on that front line, it can become more difficult.

"We’ve got guys that there's some guys in there that don't have a whole lot of experience."

Even with the sacks allowed, the running game delivered its best effort since Week 3.

"Yesterday you had Sam Mustipher in there playing center and I thought he did a really good job, for the most part, of making calls, of being a leader in that huddle," Nagy said. "But that’s his first game he’s ever started. 

"You’ve got a left guard in Rashaad Coward that was a defensive tackle three years ago. So they’re learning here. We know that. But at the same time, we hold them accountable, we hold our coaches accountable that it does start there. Whether it’s in the run game or whether it’s in pass pro, if it gets leaky at all, if there’s any leakage, meaning that guys are coming through and the timing’s not right, it can be hard. But I will say this, yesterday I thought there was an improvement with the run game in particular, with being able to get some more runs that were 5 and 6 (yards)."

Nagy did acknowledge after Sunday's game it's difficult for the line to block when Foles is dropping back seven steps and deeper, especially his tackles. 

Pace doesn't speak to the media during the season but went on the team's flagship radio station prior to Sunday's game and said in an interview there is a possiblity they could trade. He wasn't going to be specific about the position.

"We look at every avenue to improve our team," Pace told WBBM. "We talk about every single one of them

"We owe it to ourselves to do that. It's a unique year. There are some factors that go into that. But no matter what if something makes sense and it's a fit for us for different reasons, we're definitely going to explore it."

The unique year, of course, is caused by COVID-19 and it's difficult to find teams willing to part with linemen when they know they might need them.

Because it's just reaching the halfway point and there will be an extra playoff team in each conference, the chances of a .500 team or 9-7 team getting in as a wild card looks better. So it will be tougher to convince many teams in the 2-5 to 3-4 range they're not in the chase.

The Atlanta Falcons are 2-6 and have a few extra linemen they may want to trade for draft picks, but might not want to give up on this year yet after beating Minnesota convincingly and also beating Carolina.

The Jets, Jaguars, Texans and Giants would seem more likely as trade partners.

The Falcons' two interior offensive linemen, center Alex Mack and guard James Carpenter are among potentials. Among the bigger names rumored on the trade market are New England's Joe Thuney and Washington's Brandon Scherff.

Jacksonville has former Pro Bowl guard Andrew Norwell who could bring them draft picks.

Considering how long the Bears have gone without first-round picks, it would seem unlikely they would be willing to part with much.

They'll need to hope for improvement from within—a lot of it considering the five sacks allowed against New Orleans.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven