Not Quite Indispensable

Analysis: The free agent Bears can least afford to lose is a total misnomer when applied to this roster and here's why.

Former Cowboys executive and longtime NFL Media contributor Gil Brandt has labeled Bears right guard James Daniels as the free agent the team can least afford to lose.

A year ago no one would have doubted Allen Robinson's name linked with this status, but a year later much has changed.

Robinson is in the same situation as last year, a brilliant wide receiver without a contract. But the team is not in the same situation so his chance of getting this money from them seems very unlikely.

So it really does seem Brandt could be correct and Daniels could be a more critical player for the Bears to keep than Robinson.

A new offense is being put in place, there is a new general manager with different priorities and ideas about how to build his team.

One of those ways might not necessarily be putting your team behind the salary cap 8-ball immediately by giving away $18 million or more to a wide receiver.  This is especially the case when it's  wide receiver who was brought in by the old regime and fit as a receiver better with a quarterback who was the backup in Buffalo last season than with the quarterback of the team's future.

Allen Robinson and Mitchell Trubisky worked together far better than Robinson and Justin Fields.

The salary cap needs to be restructured in way to suit the way the new GM wants the future to look, and bringing back Robinson would seem to run contrary to this future.

Directional change means a chance for personnel change.

If Robinson had clicked last year with Justin Fields in the passing game, then perhaps his status as necessary piece of the puzzle would be unchanged.

While Daniels does seem more essential than Robinson, there are reasons to believe he also is expendable. 

1.  Second-year tackle Larry Borom is easily moved to right guard if necessary. So they would have a replacement for Daniels
2.  If the Bears found a more suitable free agent left tackle than second-year player Teven Jenkins, then putting Borom at right guard and Jenkins at right tackle becomes the way to go. This is a path suggested by former Bears center Olin Kreutz, not as their $15/hour consultant but as an NBC analyst.
3. GM Ryan Poles has a reputation for finding offensive linemen and could come up with someone, possibly in the draft. On Monday, Pro Football Focus suggested Boston College's Zion Johnson as a fit in the second round of their mock draft and it does seem like a suitable yet convenient and cliche pick considering he went to the same school as Poles.
4. Daniels led the Bears with eight penalties last year and one of Matt Eberflus' first goals is to reduce penalties.
5. The only time the Bears offensive line seemed in a rhythm after the 2018 season was a stretch of six games at season's end in 2020 and Daniels wasn't part of that offensive line. He had a torn pectoral muscle then. Alex Bars was playing his position. If the line can improve its performance using Bars, who was an undrafted free agent, how essential can Daniels be?

Daniels did have a solid 2021 season with the second-best PFF blocking grade on the Bears offensive line. His 71.0 grade wasn't quite up to the 77.5 that 39-year-old left tackle Jason Peters had, but was second best among starters.

Daniels is a mobile guard and even more mobile before he put on more than 20 pounds to fit what the Bears were trying to do at the time on offense. The new offense and a wide-zone blocking scheme will require more mobility.

So Daniels could be a player worth retaining, but calling him the free agent they can't do without would be a complete stretch.

The truth is, in a rebuilding year, with a new GM and coach, using a new blocking style with a new offensive coordinator, there is no such thing as a free agent they can't live without from their list. It's a list that includes Akiem Hicks, Bilal Nichols, Tashaun Gipson and Jakeem Grant.

Everyone and anyone can go in such situations.

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