Entering the 2023 free agency period with the most cap space, the Bears added a few starters. Linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards remain locked-in starters, but the other major piece Chicago added last year has not panned out.
Nate Davis did not impress in his first season with the team, and Chicago benched the former Tennessee starter early this season. Still, Davis started for four years with the Titans and may have a bit of value left in a possible trade. Teams have looked into the sixth-year veteran, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, with ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler adding the Bears are open to moving him.
Matt Pryor replaced Davis in the Bears’ Week 3 starting lineup, and while the former Derrick Henry inside blocker played most of the team’s offensive snaps in Week 4, he has returned to a reserve role. This is not optimal for a player on a three-year, $30MM contract. Davis is due more than $5.5MM in base salary. Given his Chicago trajectory, the team will need to pay down much of that to move on for a draft choice. A pick-swap deal along the lines of what the Bears fetched for Chase Claypool last year could be relevant here, though injury situations could prompt a team to give up a bit more for a player who had proven himself to be a solid starter in Tennessee.
Davis has 67 starts on his resume; 54 of those came with the Titans. As referenced in PFR’s 2023 free agent rankings, Davis ranked as Pro Football Focus’ No. 14 run-blocking guard from 2020-22 and also slotted in the top 25 in ESPN’s pass block win rate metric in his Titans finale. Football Outsiders charged Davis with allowing an alarming eight sacks in 2022, however, and ESPN classified him as below average in run block win rate. Davis graded as PFF’s No. 58 overall guard last season and ranks 63rd this year.
The Bears, who have Teven Jenkins in a contract year, have been expected to cut Davis in 2025 — if they are unable to find a trade partner now. Chicago has Pryor and Ryan Bates as RG options, though Bates — a player Chicago signed to an RFA offer sheet in 2022 and then acquired via trade this year — has been on IR since mid-September. The Bears also have some tackle depth in Larry Borom, previously mentioned as a trade chip, and rookie third-rounder Kiran Amegadjie. Though, it would be hard to see the team move both Davis and one of its tackles.
Additionally, teams have shown interest in Khalil Herbert, Rapoport mentions. A player who helped the Bears lead the NFL in rushing in 2022, Herbert has been the odd man out this season. Chicago signed D’Andre Swift and has used 2023 draftee Roschon Johnson as his backup. Herbert has logged just eight carries for 16 yards this season. The former sixth-round pick amassed 731 yards in 2022 and 611 in 2023, averaging at least 4.6 yards per carry in each slate. He hit 5.7 per tote in 2022, undoubtedly generating intrigue despite his tumble down Chicago’s depth chart that included roster-bubble status entering training camp.
The Bears are also looking into trading defensive lineman Dominique Robinson, Fowler adds. Robinson started seven games as a rookie and played in 11 as a reserve last season, but the Bears now have Montez Sweat anchoring their pass rush. The team also traded for Darrell Taylor late this summer. A fifth-round pick under contract through 2025, Robinson has not played this season.
In acquiring Claypool and Sweat over the past two seasons, GM Ryan Poles was unafraid to make buyer’s trades from a seller’s position. With the Bears currently 4-2 in a historically competitive NFC North, it will be interesting to see if the third-year front office boss considers selling some ancillary pieces to bolster future draft arsenals.