Logical Bears Guard Move Has Problems
The Bears' plight at right guard is one they could solve with creative thinking.
Doing it this way could also disrupt the course of action GM Ryan Poles has taken to date, both personnel-wise and in terms of the salary cap.
Losing Dakota Dozier to a right knee injury means it's either former center Sam Mustipher or two rookies at right guard, or possibly Teven Jenkins. Trying Jenkins there to start camp would mean starting rookie Braxton Jones at left tackle, but it might be the best option because of Mustipher's total inexperience at guard.
A Few Bears Options
There are any number of free agent guards they could sign and several would be fairly inexpensive and few would really fit the style of offense they run.
Ereck Flowers might be the best tackle/guard available in free agency at the moment but the eight-year veteran probably isn't a fit for this style offense, one requiring mobile, fast, athletic blockers.
Flowers has allowed 31 sacks in seven seasons and is a 330-pound mauler, well-suited to the inside zone blocking scheme or a power scheme. He's not someone pulling out and running wide to effectively block stretch plays or wide receiver screens. What he can do he does well, and last year had his best Pro Football Focus overall grade of 72.0, which was better than former Bears right guard James Daniels' best (71.0, 2021).
Another name out there is Laurent Duvernnay Tardif, and at 6-5, 321, he's a bit more mobile but has missed too many games. In six seasons played he has never even started for a full year. Beside, he played for his first five seasons on Poles' Kansas City Chiefs teams and if anyone knew a thing about him it would be the Bears GM. If Poles thought this was a move worth making, he surely would have done it by now because of his familiarity.
A Real Option
There is one player who would fit and it wouldn't be a cheap move. It would require some moves annd also would disrupt the plan now in motion.
The creativity it requires is moving center Lucas Patrick to right guard and signing free agent center JC Tretter, the former Browns starter.
Tretter followed a pattern much like Patrick in that he couldn't get on the field much in Green Bay. Patrick finally did, and had respectable back-to-back years before ending up now with the Bears.
Tretter went to Cleveland in 2017 and never missed a game. He has been outstanding in the eyes of PFF, although he hasn't made a Pro Bowl or All-Pro status. Only once in Cleveland did his overall blocking graded dip into the 60s at 69.1 his first year. He had a career-best 78.7 last year, 77.1 the previous year. As a pass blocker, he had spectacular grades in the 80s every year since 2016. He hasn't had a pass-blocking grade below 78.1 in a season when he started a game.
Unlike Patrick, Tretter is a center. He isn't moving. Patrick played center last year and guard the previous year for the Packers, so he is able to handle both.
And Tretter can play this wide zone scheme as a 6-4, 307-pounder who can move a bit. He has played it in Cleveland under Kevin Stefanski.
Forget About It
It all seems too good to believe it couldn't happen, but there are reasons to believe otherwise.
Poles is trying to build a line for the future and a 31-year-old center doesn't quite fit, for one. They'd need to sign Tretter to a short-term contract like they did with Patrick and this might not sit well with a player as effective as Tretter. The reason it would be short term is both his age and the way Poles is building the team. He is pointing at the future, at 2023 and 2024 talent acquisition in the draft and free agency. Bogging down the line with a 31-year-old who will be ready to exit in a few years at about the time the offense should be hitting stride isn't part of the plan.
Another reason is Tretter's health. Although he has played every game in Cleveland, last year he wasn't practicing. Coaches frown on players who do not practice. Browns Digest's Pete Smith of FanNation reported Tretter virtually never practiced because of ankle and knee injuries. There have been plenty of other teams who could have signed Tretter if there were no issues. The Vikings needed a center and GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was working in Cleveland. He knows all abou Tretter and hasn't signed him.
The last reason is money. Not that the Bears are broke with $21.37 million burning a hole in Poles' pocket, according to Spotrac.com. However, they have real uses for a lot of that money—chiefly contract extensions and bonus money for Roquan Smith and probably David Montgomery. Paying $9 million out for Tretter would pretty much wreck some of those plans.
Signing Tretter would also wreck the plans to make Patrick a starting center, and this is a player Poles sees has an ability in to do what Tretter already has done.
The Likely Result
For these reasons, it appears far more likely the Bears would wait at camp and watch the progress of whichever inexperienced player they choose for the spot, then scrape up a cut guard at some point in preseason or just before the regular season who they believe could help if their plans look to be failing.
They have four shots with Mustipher, possibly Jenkins, rookies Zachary Thomas and Ja'Tyre Carter, and could even try their own rookie center Doug Kramer at guard or start him at center with Patrick moving to guard.
It's cheaper and allows their current plans for Patrick and other linemen to remain in place.
Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven
