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The Chicago Bears have a big week in front of them.
The Bears are meeting with Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Ryan Bates this week, as first reported by Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune.
If Bates impresses, however, it’s not going to be an easy task for the Bears to nab him. First, there’s the competition. Bates “met with the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night and will visit the New England Patriots on Friday before traveling to Lake Forest,” Biggs reported on March 18.
Bates is a restricted free agent (RFA), which means the Bills have the right of first refusal on any offer sheet the Bears — or any team — might give him. If Buffalo doesn’t match the offer, it could get draft picks as compensation if Bates signs elsewhere — depending on the amount of its qualifying offer.
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Bears May Have to Overpay of They Want Bates
“The Bills tendered Bates at the low level of $2.433 million and will have the right of first refusal if he signs an offer sheet,” Biggs wrote, adding new Bears GM Ryan Poles got a good glimpse of what Bates could do while Poles was an executive in Kansas City:
“The Bills are tight against the salary cap after the addition of pass rusher Von Miller, so the Bears, Vikings, Patriots or another team could make it challenging for them to match a front-loaded offer. The Patriots got a good look at Bates as two of his regular-season starts came against them. Poles saw him in the divisional-round playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs. If Bates gets multiple offers, his fit and comfort with the situation could drive his decision.”
The Bears currently have over $28 million in cap space, per Spotrac, so they’ll have money to throw at Bates if they want him to play left tackle. Bears insider Jeff Hughes of Da Bears Blog doesn’t think it’ll be easy for Chicago despite Bates being the “perfect” o-line target, though.
“Bates will be hard to pull away,” Hughes noted on Twitter. “Bills will be willing to match reasonable offer sheet.”
Thus, it sounds as though the only way Chicago could pry the 25-year-old offensive lineman away is by shelling out more money than the Bills — or Pats or Vikes — are willing to match. That likely means overpaying for Bates’ services, but that’s part of free agency. Bates has been reliable, and he’s an ascending young player. It might be worth taking a shot at a hefty contract considering the Bears missed out on La’el Collins and are set to lose Terron Armstead if he signs with the Dolphins.
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Bates Has Lots of Potential Upside
Bates signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent in 2019 when current Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham served as assistant director of player personnel for Philly. There’s a chance the connection to Cunningham could pull Bates in, but it’ll ultimately come down to money.
There’s no doubt Bates is an intriguing young player. He was traded to the Bills for linebacker Eli Harold shortly after arriving in Philadelphia, and he has wound up playing in 41 games in his first three seasons, starting four.
In 294 snaps played on offense last year, he didn’t allow a sack and surrendered three QB hits and three total pressures. He earned a 74.5 pass blocking grade from Pro Football Focus, and he had one flag thrown his way all year. While 214 of those snaps were played at left guard, he also took snaps at center and right guard, giving him the kind of versatility on the line many teams find attractive.
The Bears have until April 22, when the time period to ink RFAs runs out, to make a deal the Bills can’t or won’t match.
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