The Chicago Bears have added a lot of new pieces this offseason but the biggest area of improvement was along the offensive line. General manager Ryan Poles did his best to protect Caleb Williams after he was sacked 68 times during his rookie season, swinging trades with the Kansas City Chiefs for Joe Thuney and the Los Angeles Rams for Jonah Jackson.
Adding two veteran guards was necessary, but it may not have been needed if some of their previous moves panned out. A recent addition by the Bears was expected to fill a major role along the offensive line last season but is now on the trading block after the Bears completed OTA workouts and minicamp this month.
Bears Lineman Ryan Bates Could Be Traded Ahead of 2025 Season
The Bears made an attempt to fix their offensive line when they acquired Ryan Bates from the Buffalo Bills during the 2024 offseason. Chicago had attempted to sign Bates to an offer sheet in 2022 but the Bills matched the deal before sending him to the Bears in exchange for a 2024 fifth-round pick.
The persistence didn’t pay off as Bates struggled in his first year with Chicago. After failing to earn a starting role during training camp, he suffered shoulder and elbow injuries that limited him to three games played. While he still had a chance to contribute as a backup after the trades for Thuney and Jackson, he didn’t show up much during OTAs and led to The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain and Adam Jahns to leave him off their 53-man roster projection.
“The competition for the final offensive line spots will include Doug Kramer…Ryan Bates, Ricky Stromberg, Chris Glaser and Jordan McFadden,” Fishbain wrote. “Regardless of who OL8 or OL9 is, the top seven look better than what the Bears have had in several years.”
Being outside of the top seven isn’t a good look for Bates and the Bears could move on and save $3.5 million if they cut him at the end of training camp. But there’s also a chance another team could look to acquire Bates if they don’t like their depth or suffer an injury in the lead up to next season.
Either by cut or trade, Bates’s days in Chicago appear to be numbered and it could make him the latest casualty on a revamped offensive line.