Chicago Bears free agency profile: Offensive Guard Luke Joeckel
By Eric Brown
The Chicago Bears are on a mission to fix an offensive line that gave up 39 sacks in 2017. Could the answer be Luke Joeckel?
The Bears have quite a few questions in regards to their offensive line. They have a team option on left guard Josh Sitton that is due to the league’s office before March 9th, when the new league year starts. If Chicago does pick up the option on Sitton they will be paying $8 million for an aging offensive lineman who missed six games over the past two seasons.
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The second question is what will the team do with Bobbie Massey? Massey will be owed $1 million if he still on the Bears roster on March 16th. At 28 years old, we very well might have seen the last of Massey in a Bears jersey.
So what can the Bears do to replace two offensive linemen? Many believe that the team will draft one of the top offensive guards(Nelson, McGlinchey) in the upcoming draft. The best part about both prospects, is they are both from new Offensive Line coach Harry Heistand’s former school, Notre Dame.
If Chicago does not decide to go the draft route towards building an offensive line, they could choose to sign one of the best linemen in all of football, Luke Joeckel.
As a former number two overall pick, Joeckel is no stranger to the spotlight being put on him. When the Jaguard selected him with their second pick back in 2013, they were hoping to get a future franchise player that would block for Blake Bortles. Instead, they got an oft-injured player whom they eventually decided to part ways with.
After not signing with the Jaguars following his rookie contract, Joeckel signed with the Seattle Seahawks for the 2017. With the Seahawks, Joeckel had a mediocre season. However some of that was due to the play-calling of Seattle’s offense and quarterback Russell Wilson‘s love with running the ball once a play breaks down.
Next: Chicago Bears free agency profile: Donte Moncrief
The Bears desperately need help on the offensive line, and signing Joeckel to a contract worth $6 million annually could be worth Chicago’s money. What do you think about this potential signing? Or would you rather the team draft one of the top linemen? Let us know in the comments below.