Bears' Chance to Replace Eddie Goldman Could Vanish Quickly

When Eddie Goldman opted out Bears GM Ryan Pace spoke about looking at their depth at this position but now after putting nose tackle John Jenkins on the Reserve/COVID-19 List the Bears may soon see the supply of free agents disappear due to COVID opt outs across the league on the defensive line

The Bears may need to get involved in the hunt for Eddie Goldman's replacement sooner rather than later.

The most available and talented of the remaining unsigned free agent defensive linemen are starting to receive inquiries according to Nick Shook of NFL.com and Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.

COVID-19 has taken a toll on the defensive line, possibly because those players are among those most in contact with opponents throughout games. There currently are eight players on the defensive line league-wide who have opted out, including Goldman, Minnesota's Michael Pierce, Buffalo's Star Lotulelei, Cincinnati's Josh Tupou, Denver's Kyle Peko, Detroit's John Atkins, Houston's Eddie Vanderdoes and Jacksonville's Al Woods.

After Goldman opted out for the season due to coronavirus concerns, backup nose tackle John Jenkins went on the Reserve/COVID-19 List. It left the Bears without a bonafide nose tackle on the roster.

Garafolo reported former Packers and Lions defensive lineman Mike Daniels, former Detroit defensive tackle Damon "Snacks" Harrison, former Philadelphia defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan and former Denver nose tackle Domata Peko all are receiving calls from teams after the opt out.

If the Bears are not among the callers, then perhaps they need to be.

At best, they won't have Goldman and will have Jenkins before the start of hitting in training camp.

Jenkins has largely been a backup in the league but did start five games last year for Miami.

Even though nose tackle is generally regarded as a less important position because the number of snaps they play is usually limited to obvious running downs, they are still critical in stuffing the run. Goldman has been on the field for no more than 58% of defensive snaps in any season but unlike most nose tackles he is very active against the pass with 12 1/2 sacks and 20 quarterback hits in his career.

So finding an alternative can be critical enough that just relying on their current roster depth might not be a realistic approach.

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