Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2016 15:49:58 GMT -6
Should the Chicago Bears sign OL Geoff Schwartz?
Aug 3, 2014; Canton, OH, USA;
By: Bryan Perez | 5 hours ago
The NFL is about to enter its second unofficial wave of free agency as teams are required to cut their rosters from 90 players down to 75 by August 30, and then again to the final 53-man squad by September 3.
The Chicago Bears will be monitoring the waiver wire closely, especially after three preseason games that have produced more questions than answers for the team.
Injuries have derailed any chance the Bears have had at building chemistry along the offensive line with starting center Hroniss Grasu suffering a season-ending ACL tear and team leader Kyle Long missing time with a shoulder ailment. The resulting musical chairs at center and guard have left the Bears’ quarterbacks running for their lives in games that generally feature vanilla defensive game plans.
One player who might be able to help the offensive line weather the storm is veteran Geoff Schwartz, who will be released by the Detroit Lions in their first round of cuts.
Schwartz was at one time considered one of the NFL’s better interior offensive linemen after originally entering the league as a seventh-round pick of the Carolina Panthers in 2008. He’s played both tackle and guard in the NFL and has bounced around between the Panthers, Vikings, Chiefs, Giants and most recently, the Lions.
Schwartz earned a big-money deal with New York after his career-best season as a Chief in 2013; the Giants signed him to a four-year, $16.8 million contract in 2014.
He’s suffered one serious injury after another since then and has appeared in only 13 games since the 2014 season.
Despite his injury history, Schwartz has proven to be a solid starter in the NFL. He has experience at both tackle and guard which is extremely valuable for a team like the Bears that is without any established veteran at backup tackle and who could use even more help along the interior of the offensive line.
Whether general manager Ryan Pace kicks the tires on Schwartz is anyone’s guess at this point, especially when the team has to focus on trimming players off the roster.
It’s unlikely that Schwartz would challenge for a starting job if all five projected Bears’ starters are healthy. The lone spot he could serve as a potential upgrade would be at left guard if rookie Cody Whitehair struggles. All indications are that Whitehair will do just fine, however, making a Schwartz addition more about depth than anything else.
Chicago’s top reserve guard at this point is probably Amini Silatolu, and that’s not saying much. Silatolu is coming off of a torn ACL in 2015 and he’s still not even a lock to make the final 53-man roster. If Schwartz is in fact fully healthy, there’s no reason not to assume he’d make a better swing lineman than the former Carolina Panther.
