The Chicago Bears are signing former Cleveland Browns 2020 first-round pick, left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr., ESPN’s Adam Schefter was the first to report.
“Former Browns first-round pick, OT Jedrick Wills Jr., is signing a one-year deal with the Chicago Bears, per source.”
Wills, 26, missed all of last season due to a knee injury, but according to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, there’s an expectation that he will be fully healthy by next season.
“Sources: Former #Browns OT Jedrick Wills, who sat out last season to fully recover from a knee injury, has been on a tour of visits with NFL teams — including the #Patriots and today with the #Lions. Visits are expected to continue into next week. A former top-10 pick, Wills — who is just 26 — fully expects to be with an NFL team this season.”
Bears Sign Former Browns First-Round Pick Jedrick Wills to a One-Year Deal
Wills will compete for the starting left tackle spot with Braxton Jones, who the Bears recently re-signed to a one-year deal, and Theo Benedet.
The financials aren’t announced yet, but this move has a ton of potential, and Wills gives the Bears some upside. It’s a low-risk type of acquisition for general manager Ryan Poles.
He hasn’t had the type of career he was expecting in Cleveland, but now has a fresh change of scenery where he can make a name for himself in Chicago, considering Bears’ 2025 second-round pick Ozzy Trapilo will continue to work on his rehab next season.
Wills has 2,121 career pass-blocking snaps and provides Chicago another potential option at LT next year.
Bears’ Offensive Line Coach Dan Roushar Gets Honest on the Left Tackle Situation
Bears’ offensive line coach Dan Roushar has another project in Wills. Roushar knows that this bunch at left tackle will be a work in progress, and he was honest in his assessment of the situation.
“I’m transparent. I met with all three guys that played left tackle for us this past year, to include Theo Benedet, an undrafted young man from Canada. I told all three of them this. ‘I know what the left tackle position looks like in this league. You are the standard. That’s a rare player that comes along. But somebody has to play that position similar to that.’ It’s a faceless, nameless guy right now. It has to become the way we played the game at left tackle similar to what’s being done at right tackle. Is that player in the building? I think there’s guys that have traits, but not consistent enough the way we want it done consistently. So that’s to be determined.”
Could Wills be that player from outside the building that the Bears are looking for at left tackle? Maybe. But Roushar will have to mold him into the player that Cleveland was expecting when they drafted him back in 2020.
Bears News: Chicago Turns Heads with Intriguing Left Tackle Deal