The Chicago Bears signed offensive guard Nate Davis to a three-year, $30 million deal in free agency in 2023 to finally add some beef to a leaky offensive line. The signing almost immediately proved to be a disaster. Davis was in-and-out of practice with minor injuries from the time he signed the deal, preventing the Bears from forming the type of chemistry on the offensive line they desired. After a terrible first season with the team, Davis was somehow even less reliable this year.
The Bears cut their worst free agent signing, and fans celebrated it like a big win
Nate Davis is gone, and Bears fans are happy.
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
The Bears cut Davis on Wednesday, deciding they would rather have him off the team than in a backup role. Chicago has been banged up on the offensive line all year, and just allowed nine sacks against a weak New England Patriots pass rush in a devastating Week 10 loss. Chicago is free-falling down the standings in the wake of Jayden Daniels’ Hail Mary, and now both offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and Davis have been let go.
Davis was supposed to be in a reserve role on Sunday against the Patriots. When he showed up to Solider Field, he told the team he couldn’t play because of a back injury. That was the final straw in letting him go:
The Bears’ offensive line has been just about the worst in the league this season. Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams has been under constant duress. Williams has been sacked 38 times so far, which leads the NFL. A year ago, Bears QB Justin Fields was sacked 44 times, which finished as the fifth most in the NFL, despite missing a couple games.
Chicago general manager Ryan Poles is a former offensive lineman. Fixing the trenches should be his specialty, but instead he’s mostly gone cheap up front with disastrous results. Davis was the one player he actually spent money on, and he was just terrible from the jump.
When the Bears released Davis on Wednesday, fans celebrated it like a big win.
The Bears won’t have many wins left with Matt Eberflus leading them as head coach. Chicago is 4-5 on the year, but face the league’s toughest remaining schedule, including six divisional games in the loaded NFC North. Firing Waldron and cutting Davis is a good start to addressing the team’s problems, but Eberflus needs to be fired, too.
The Bears are free-falling, but at least their fans got a couple things to celebrate this week with Davis and Waldron gone.
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