Bear Digest

What Bears alternate plans should look like if Trey Smith gets away

An ESPN tweet suggested the possibility Trey Smith would be tagged but the Bears need to be ready for that or for losing out on a bidding war for the guard.

Gene Chamberlain

Kevin Zeitler and a drafted guard would make a good Plan B for the Bears in free agency should they find it's impossible to land Trey Smith.
Kevin Zeitler and a drafted guard would make a good Plan B for the Bears in free agency should they find it's impossible to land Trey Smith. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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At free agency or franchise tag time, the slightest news nugget or rumor tends to set social media on tilt.

A simple tweet by Adam Schefter of ESPN denoting the start of the franchise tag period Tuesday did this when all he intended was to mention how it's expected to be a quiet tag period and he mentioned four possible "options" for getting the tag.

"Cincinnati Bengals WR Tee Higgins, Minnesota Vikings QB Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings CB Byron Murphy Jr., Kansas City Chiefs OG Trey Smith," were his list.

They're only "options" and he made this clear. However, it is worth noting his other tweet was not good news if you're the Bears.

In response to one tweet saying it would be surprising if Smith received the franchise tag, Schefter said, "Agreed. Hard to imagine the Chiefs franchise tag Trey Smith. A transition tag is more palatable and plausible."

The transition tag doesn't force the signing team to give up compensation to the player's former team. It does give the player's original team the right to match an offer.

In a sense, Schefter normally would be right. However, no tag or franchise tag make the most sense in this case because there are going to be teams with the money available to help Smith set the guard market the way Christian Kirk did with the receiver market several years ago.

Since the Chiefs wouldn't get draft pick compensation with a transition tag, it makes little sense to waste time using it. The Chiefs would find it all but impossible to come up with the kind of money necessary to keep Smith considering their cap space or lack thereof.

Nevertheless, the Bears need to be prepared in case the Chiefs did somehow come out of it still with Smith or if teams like New England or the Raiders are involved in a bidding war. Those teams have far more cap space available than the Bears and quarterbacks on their first contracts. In a bidding war, the Bears wouldn't have much chance with those teams as Smith could set the market.

In case Plan A falls through Plan B should look like this:

  • Sign Kevin Zeitler and draft a guard. It's assumed they'll use the first pick on a tackle who could be a guard while they still have Braxton Jones under contract. If they draft another guard, they could break him in as a rookie without throwing him to the wolves like they do to so many other players. Zeitler could start. Zeitler would be an ideal free agent because he just finished a year in Detroit after three years in Baltimore.

In case Plan B falls through, Plan C:

  • Sign Eagles lineman Mekhi Becton. So many of the other guards available in free agency are either coming off injuries, are old or simply haven't had good blocking grades. Becton has been effective on the excellent Eagles offensive line and he's a lineman with position versatility. Because he's only 25, if the Bears signed him for what Pro Football Focus projects at $9 million a year for three years or even the $10.2 million Spotrac.com says, they might not have to devote one of their second-round picks to another offensive lineman.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.