How the Chicago Bears can keep making life miserable for the Detroit Lions

Is Kevin Zeitler saying a silent goodbye to his Detroit Lions brethren?
Is Kevin Zeitler saying a silent goodbye to his Detroit Lions brethren? / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
In this story:

First, the Chicago Bears stole the Detroit Lions’ offensive coordinator.

Next, they poached their wide receivers coach.

Finally, they took away their assistant quarterbacks coach.

Now that the Chicago Bears have systematically destroyed the Detroit sidelines—welcome to Chi-town, Ben Johnson, Antwaan Randle El, and J.T. Barrett—will they do the same to the Lions’ offensive line?

Or, more accurately, should they do the same to the Lions’ offensive line?

The Z Factor

Kevin Zeitler is a warrior.

Over his 13-year career, the guard out of Wisconsin has missed just 13 games, and last season, the 34-year-old delivered one of the finest campaigns of his NFL life—PFF tabbed him as the fifth-best guard in the league.

Little wonder that ESPN ranks him as the league’s 35th top free agent—an astounding endorsement for somebody with that much tread on his tires—saying, “Zeitler is a physical inside presence with the power to displace defensive tackles and the movement ability to pull on gap schemes. He routinely wins in pass protection, using his strong base to hold off interior rushers. Zeitler had a pass block win rate of 94.4%.”

Running the Numbers

That’s all fantastic stuff, but there are some crucial digits to keep in mind, specifically 34 and 15 million, the former being Zeitler’s age, and the latter, his potential cap hit.

If Chicago does bring Zeitler into the fold, he’ll eat up a large chunk of their salary cap, and it’s questionable as to whether new coach Ben Johnson and GM Ryan Poles would (or should) be willing to throw several million buckwads at a player entering his mid-30s.

Johnson might say yes, as Zeitler was one of the reasons Lions QB Jared Goff was sacked just 31 times last season.

Poles might say no, as Zeitler wouldn’t have as much shelf life as, say, Chiefs free agent guard Trey Smith.

Or maybe Poles and Johnson can figure out a way to sign both Zeitler and Smith…something that would make the Detroit Lions truly, truly miserable.


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Alan Goldsher
ALAN GOLDSHER

Alan Goldsher has written about sports for Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Apple, Playboy, NFL.com, and NBA.com, and he’s the creator of the Chicago Sports Stuff Substack. He’s the bestselling author of 15 books, and the founder/CEO of Gold Note Records. Alan lives in Chicago, where he writes, makes music, and consumes and creates way too much Bears content. You can visit him at http://www.AlanGoldsher.com and http://x.com/AlanGoldsher.