Chicago Bears Rumors: Cody Whitehair sticking around for 2023?

Going into the 2023 offseason, the Chicago Bears were ready to see quite a bit of shuffling across their offensive line.

Quarterback Justin Fields needed better protection, and that had to be a priority for general manager Ryan Poles.

The Bears signed free agent guard Nate Davis to a 3-year deal, which was a strong signing and immediately improves the line in front of Fields. Still, the thought process is that Chicago will likely need a tackle, at the very least.

With Davis, though, it appears the interior of the line just might be set, believe it or not. Before the offseason ramped up, there was a thought that veteran lineman Cody Whitehair could be cut. If the Bears decided to do that, they would save a good amount of money: $6 million, to be exact.

But, recent comments by Poles suggest that Whitehair will indeed be sticking around for, at least, the 2023 campaign.

“I’ll stick to this, we’re going to put the best front five up there but I also think there’s some flexibility and some conversations where Cody could work some center,” Poles said.

Cody Whitehair might end up as the starting center for the Chicago Bears once again

“He’s got almost 4,000 snaps there. Had some good seasons there. So we’re going to move it around a little bit and see if we can get the best like front three possible.”

Between Davis, Whitehair and Lucas Patrick, it seems like Poles is confident that the Bears already have their starting interior linemen on the current roster, even before going into the draft.

“It’s hard to say right now. It’s going to be competitive. We’ve been in communication with a lot of them and we’re going to make that competition. But I think we feel comfortable with the group that’s there that we’re going to figure out the best interior group.”

That leads one to believe that, if anything, Chicago is going to try and find themselves another starting-quality tackle to compete with Teven Jenkins on the right side. If Jenkins is beat out by a rookie during training camp, maybe the Bears wind up trading him after all.

Regardless, Whitehair is here to stay for at least one more year, and moving him back to center could be just what the Bears needed when it comes to helping further develop their young quarterback.