{"id":219396,"date":"2025-02-25T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T22:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=219396"},"modified":"2025-02-25T17:43:25","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T22:43:25","slug":"bears-free-agency-plan-involves-panthers-jaguars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/02\/25\/bears-free-agency-plan-involves-panthers-jaguars\/","title":{"rendered":"Bears Eye Panthers&#8217; Free Agency Model, Jaguars Pose a Threat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"209\" data-end=\"595\">Day one of the NFL Combine brought plenty of league-wide news, shaping what free agency could look like\u2014especially for the Chicago Bears. One thing is becoming increasingly clear: the Bears intend to make significant moves to upgrade their offensive line. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/02\/18\/bears-head-coach-ben-johnson-co-favorite-coach-of-the-year\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Ben Johnson<\/a> even hinted at following a &#8220;Panthers-like&#8221; approach to free agency, prioritizing the offensive line.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"597\" data-end=\"730\">However, newly appointed Jaguars GM James Gladstone made a statement in his press conference that could complicate Chicago&#8217;s plans.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ben Johnson says &quot;it&#39;s been done before&quot; in terms of replacing the entire interior of an offensive line in one offseason.<\/p>\n<p>Points to the Panthers doing it last year. Did acknowledge it takes some time for all 5 guys on an offensive line to gel together.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Harrison Graham (@HGrahamNFL) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HGrahamNFL\/status\/1894450684415643690?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 25, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Bears Eye Panthers&#8217; Free Agency Model, but Jaguars Could Disrupt Their Plans<\/h2>\n<h3>Time to Invest in the Offensive Line<\/h3>\n<p>It feels reassuring knowing after years of begging Bears GM Ryan Poles to make some moves on the offensive line, it appears they&#8217;ll finally do so this offseason.<\/p>\n<p>For those who don&#8217;t know what the Panthers did last season, they were in a similar position the Bears are in. A rookie quarterback getting obliterated in the backfield due to poor offensive line play. Bryce Young was sacked 62 times in 2023, just six fewer than <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/02\/05\/pff-lists-will-campbell-as-ideal-bodyguard-for-the-bears-in-nfl-draft\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Caleb Williams<\/a> endured this past season. Recognizing the urgency, Carolina aggressively targeted offensive linemen in free agency, signing guards <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/39778241\/panthers-signing-robert-hunt-damien-lewis-was-necessity\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Damien Lewis (four years, $53 million) and Robert Hunt (five years, $100 million).<\/a> Those moves dramatically helped the Panthers offense in 2024, and it&#8217;s something the Bears must replicate this offseason.<\/p>\n<p>With <a href=\"https:\/\/overthecap.com\/salary-cap-space\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">$79.76 million in cap space<\/a> (the fourth-highest in the NFL, per OverTheCap), Chicago has the flexibility to be aggressive. The question is: which direction will they take?<\/p>\n<p>A smart bet would be an ultra-aggressive approach on the first two days of free agency. With options thin at center, the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/02\/24\/why-the-bears-must-go-all-in-on-drew-dalman\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Bears should do everything they can to sign Drew Dalman,<\/a> one of the top centers in the NFL who&#8217;ll have a plethora of suitors.<\/p>\n<p>If they miss out on Dalman, veteran <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/02\/10\/expect-bears-target-free-agents-from-colts-chiefs-eagles-lions\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Ryan Kelly<\/a>\u2014who anchored the Colts&#8217; line for years\u2014would be a solid fallback option.<\/p>\n<p>At guard, time will tell what the Bears do. The prize pick is Chiefs right guard <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/02\/03\/chiefs-bears-connected-trey-smith-trade-rumor\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Trey Smith,<\/a> but Chiefs GM Brett Veach said he&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/kpatra\/status\/1894435246893896086\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;pretty optimistic&#8221;<\/a> they&#8217;ll be able to keep Smith. The good news is there are plenty of options at guard, including younger talents like Will Fries, Mekhi Becton, and James Daniels, along with older veterans like Kevin Zeitler, Brandon Scherff, and many more.<\/p>\n<h3>Jaguars Looking to Ruin the Bears&#8217; Plans<\/h3>\n<p>The Bears aren&#8217;t the only team with offensive line needs. Jacksonville is also prioritizing protection for its young franchise quarterback, and GM <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JoshNorris\/status\/1894428354616361210\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">James Gladstone has been clear about his intentions:<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Addressing the interior of the OL, setting the dish for the QB, can be really helpful for their success.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Jaguars currently have $38.45 million in cap space, which isn&#8217;t nearly as much as Chicago, but are positioned to be active in the same market.<\/p>\n<h3>The Right Approach Matters<\/h3>\n<p data-start=\"3067\" data-end=\"3357\">Ultimately, this isn&#8217;t about the Bears simply outbidding everyone for offensive linemen, it&#8217;s about being strategic. Free agency alone won&#8217;t solve all of Chicago&#8217;s offensive line issues, nor will one offseason. The key is finding the right balance between aggression and smart investments.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"3359\" data-end=\"3553\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">By carefully evaluating free agents and draft prospects, the Bears can ensure Caleb Williams and the rest of the offense are set up for success. The blueprint is there, they just have to execute.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main Image: David Banks &#8211; USA Today Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bears HC Ben Johnson alluded to following a Panthers-like free agency plan, with the Jaguars posing a potential obstacle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4976,"featured_media":219420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,30,13,36],"tags":[33071,7403,32729,7646,1900,7661],"class_list":["post-219396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bears","category-panthers","category-jaguars","category-nfl-news","tag-2025-nfl-free-agency","tag-chicago-bears-news","tag-chicago-bears-offensive-line","tag-jaguars-featured","tag-nfl-combine","tag-panthers-featured"],"modified_by":"Isaac Zuniga","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4976"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219396"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219438,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219396\/revisions\/219438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/219420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}