No Offseason: Center of Attention

When I start putting together my offseason work, I compile all the players, who is available and the ranks then I add a little blurb at the bottom to remind myself of the state of that position because I probably won’t return to it for a few weeks. This is what I wrote under the center position:

Dalman is entrenched as the starter and he played every snap last year. Ryan Bates is a free agent and could probably be had for the veteran minimum but there is almost zero chance there is any kind of meaningful money or draft capital spent on the center spot.

Welp.

With Drew Dalman shocking the Bears with his retirement on Tuesday, it’s probably fair to say that the chances of the Bears spending meaningful money or draft capital on the center spot just went significantly higher than zero. It’s hard to overstate how big of a blow this is. From a team perspective, the Bears have had terrible center play forever which FINALLY stabilized with Dalman. Caleb Williams directly credited Dalman with helping him ascend this year and the line play in general was elevated by a good, intelligent player in the middle of it. Brutal.

The Needs:

Center

In-House Options + PFF Rank

None :(

Available Free Agents + PFF Rank

Tyler Linderbaum – 5

Tyler Biadasz – 11

Connor McGovern – 15

Luke Fortner – 18

Ethan Pocic – 20

Cade Mays – 24

Sean Rhyan – 31

Graham Glasgow – 33

Lloyd Cushenberry – 36

James Daniels – NA

This would all hurt significantly less if they turn around and give lots of money to Tyler Linderbaum, at least from a talent perspective. Tyler Biadasz is also a really good, experienced center. After that, you’re throwing darts depending on how much you believe in a particular guy. Graham Glasgow was just cut in Detroit and has experience in Johnson’s system so it’s possible he’s brought in as a stopgap if they choose to draft a center. Ryan Bates also theoretically remains in play due to Ryan Poles’ undying love for him. Cap wise, this move likely saves them a few million once a replacement is found unless they sign Linderbaum but I don’t think that is exactly the important thing here.

Bummer.