Chicago Bears: 5 free agent tackles to replace Charles Leno
By Ryan Heckman
Chicago Bears’ potential replacements for Charles Leno: Rick Wagner
This is a guy the Bears know pretty well, after he played his one and only season for the Green Bay Packers last year and also spent his previous three seasons with the Detroit Lions. Rick Wagner could give the Bears a cheaper option at right tackle if they simply wanted an affordable, one-year rental type of player.
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Wagner is someone who plays much better in pass protection than he does in the run game, which might be one of the main reasons why the Bears ultimately pass on him. Sure, protecting Justin Fields is important. However, it all starts and ends with the running game. Matt Nagy wants to run the football more going forward, just as they did late in the 2020 season.
Struggling mostly against quicker rushers, Wagner is strong enough to hold his own against the power rushers. As you can see above, he’s got some experience against one of the best in the business over the past few years in Khalil Mack.
If Chicago reached out to Wagner, I would assume they could end up signing him to a deal worth roughly $2.5 to $3.0 million annually — and more likely than not, it would be just a 1-year deal. The Bears can either address the right tackle position in next year’s draft, or develop 2021 fifth-round pick Larry Borom into the future there.