Bear Digest

Trey Smith will be untagged if Bears can handle the competition

There will be no tag for guard Trey Smith according to The Athletic, and the Bears will be free to try and outbid some other teams with more cap space.
Gene Chamberlain|
Trey Smith will not be tagged by the Kansas City Chiefs, according to a report by The Athletic, making him a possible Bears free agency target.
Trey Smith will not be tagged by the Kansas City Chiefs, according to a report by The Athletic, making him a possible Bears free agency target. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Let the Bears' cash start to stack.

According to The Athletic's Nate Taylor, there will be no tag for Chiefs free agent guard Trey Smith. Taylor's report was sourced and not fact-based speculation.

Now, for the Bears, it becomes a matter of getting together their offers. It clears away a hurdle to bring in a right guard starter but doesn't guarantee anything.

It becomes a matter of who has the most cash or is willing to part with the most for a guard.

The New England Patriots need anything they can find on the offensive line but their right guard, Michael Onwenu, is more of a tackle than guard at 350 pounds. Jacob Demontrey was at right tackle and struggled there last year.

They have $111.9 million in effective cap space according to Overthecap.com. They already have Cole Strange and the left guard position.

The Bears are only seventh in effective cap space available at $53.86 million.

The Raiders could opt for offensive line help, and have $86 million available, however, Dylan Parham is manning right guard and coming off a strong season when he was graded 24th out of 135 NFL guards by Pro Football Focus.

Two teams named often as potential candidates for Smith have been Tennessee at $35.8 million and Seattle. The Seahawks are well over the cap and not perceived as real factors.

The Lions also could have an interest if guard Kevin Zeitler leaves but they also have linemen waiting in the wings for his spot.

The Bears' need at right guard stems from GM Ryan Poles signing Nate Davis to a three-year contract. He disappointed greatly and was let go last season. They had backup Matt Pryor play the position after Davis left.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.