Seahawks Best to Accompany Shane Waldron

When former Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy first came to the team, he brought along a few free agents who players and other assistants insisted were important in helping teach his Packers style of offense.

Equanimeous St. Brown and Lucas Patrick were the players mentioned in this way.

It's entirely possible new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron could bring along Seattle Seahawks free agents to the Bears, but it won't necessarily be for the reason of teaching his offense to anyone.

As the Bears have found with Getsy, this whole process of bringing in players to help other players is overrated.

Waldron already is supposed to be a great teacher. It was one of the prerequisites for his hiring as an offensive coordinator.

"Obviously you want to have somebody that's a great teacher," coach Matt Eberflus had said after the Getsy firing. "I think that's important because you know he has to coach the coaches to coach the position."

Another reason to sign Seahawks free agents would be their actual fit within his offense as players, not teachers. But one of Waldron's great abilities reported as a coordinator has been an ability to adapt to his talent. So they shouldn't necessarily need a particular player to fit into the attack.

There are free agents the Seahawks have who would be fits for the Bears because they are good players for other reasons, but it definitely doesn't hurt that they know the offense already. This is just a bonus.

Here are players the Bears could consider.

C Evan Brown

As long as they're aiming to sign Brown and use him only as a bridge to a young center they drafted, then this would be a good signing for them. Brown is by no means one of the better centers in the league. According to Pro Football Focus grades, he barely rated above Patrick in center grades last season. He was 27th overall and Patrick was 30th. The difference is Brown was graded as a solid pass blocker, rated 17th among centers as a pass blocker. Patrick was 32nd among centers as a pass blocker by PFF grades last year. Either way, Brown has been a journeyman type with five teams in five seasons but he did a respectable job in Detroit filling in as a starter due to injuries from 2020-22 and left as a free agent to Seattle on a one-year deal.

The Bears badly need to draft a young starting center but it can be a position in the NFL where a player needs time to develop, so Brown easily could be a bridge starter. The Bears also have two free agent guards in Phil Haynes and Damien Lewis but neither rates an upgrade over starting Bears guards, and besides, the Seahawks offensive line hasn't exactly been the team to look to for offensive line replacements.

TE Colby Parkinson

It depends on what a team is looking for from a tight end but the Bears wouldn't be looking for a starting tight end. They're paying Cole Kmet plenty on his new contract to do this, so signing Seahawks free agent tight end Noah Fant wouldn't make as much sense. The main reason Fant wouldn't be a Bears fit is PFF projects he is a $9 million a year free agent. That's too much to be spending on that position considering Cole Kmet is already getting four years and $50 million on his contract extension. Parkinson, though, has actually been a more consistent blocker than both Fant and Kmet according to PFF grades. He hasn't gone over 25 receptions, but if he hit that number it would be a huge hike over what the Bears have had from second tight ends under Getsy.

QB Drew Lock

What on earth could the Bears do with Lock? If they draft Caleb Williams, quarterback is one position where it really would help Waldron and the Bears to have someone around who played in the attack. Lock actually got to play in it last year in Seattle. He definitely could help Waldron and whoever the QB coach will be when it comes to getting the new starter ready both to play in the attack but to play in the NFL overall. The Bears have Tyson Bagent but his limited NFL experience is in another offense and he's an undrafted Division II QB who doesn't have the arm Lock has as a second-round draft pick.

WR Tyler Lockett

OK, he's not a free agent and the Bears are not trading for him, not with a ridiculous $27 million cap cost on his contract. However, obvious talk in Seattle has been he'll be a cap cut victim due to his huge salary and the fact he is 32 years old in September. He already had talked about retirement . If he is a cap cut victim and the cost is much, much, much, much lower than now, then he would be a fit to help a young QB by getting open over the middle in Chicago.

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