Bears’ Former 40-Game Starter Signs New Contract With Broncos

Getty Former Bears center Sam Mustipher, right.

Former Chicago Bears starting center Sam Mustipher will don the orange and blue again during the 2024 season — just for the Denver Broncos instead.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Broncos are signing Mustipher to a one-year contract for next season after he played nine games for the Baltimore Ravens in 2023. He spent his previous four years with the Bears and started 40 of 43 games for them.

Mustipher, 27, initially signed with the Bears as an undrafted rookie in 2019 and earned a starting spot on their offensive line midway through his second season in 2020. Over the next two seasons, he played more than 2,100 combined snaps at center for them; though, his time in Chicago is not remembered fondly due to his underwhelming play.

While Mustipher gradually improved in his four seasons with the Bears, he struggled to maintain even an average level of play in their offensive trenches for reasons both in and out of his control. According to Pro Football Focus, he also never finished with a pass-blocking grade above 61.7 (2021), prompting the Bears to allow him to walk in 2023 NFL free agency without submitting a restricted free agent tender offer to him.

One year later, Mustipher is heading to Denver to compete for another starting job. The Broncos need a new center after veteran Lloyd Cushenberry signed with Tennessee in free agency last month and now add Mustipher to a position group that also includes Luke Watternberg (2022 fifth-round pick) and Alex Forsyth (2023 seventh-rounder).

According to Over the Cap, Mustipher signed a veteran-minimum contract with the Broncos that will pay him about $1.12 million for the upcoming season.

Bears Reloaded Center Position in 2024 Offseason

The Bears tried — and failed — to make things work with Cody Whitehair and Lucas Patrick at center last season after moving on from Sam Mustipher. Looking ahead to 2024, though, things appear to be in a better place after a few key roster additions.

Shortly before the start of NFL free agency, the Bears traded their 2024 fifth-round pick to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for versatile interior lineman Ryan Bates, whom the team had already attempted to acquire once before. During Ryan Poles’ first offseason as general manager in 2022, he signed Bates to a four-year, $17 million offer sheet in free agency. The Bills ultimately matched their offer to avoid losing him to Chicago.

Now, two years later, Poles has finally gotten his man and will pay him about $8 million over the next two years on the contract he originally negotiated for him in 2022.

The Bears also signed a one-year deal with 28-year-old Coleman Shelton, who started 30 games at center over the past two seasons with the Los Angeles Rams. While it is not entirely clear just yet whether Shelton will have a genuine opportunity to compete with Bates to be the Bears’ Day 1 starter at center, his addition provides much-needed depth at the very least and helps improve the position from where it was a year ago.

Could Bears Still Add Another Center in 2024 Draft?

The Bears now have two strong candidates to be their starting center in 2024, but their newfound depth does not mean they will avoid the position in this month’s NFL draft.

The Bears have already taken an interest in at least one of the top center prospects in this year’s draft. West Virginia’s Zach Frazier confirmed that he met with the Bears at the 2024 NFL Combine, then — according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer — came to Halas Hall for an official Top 30 visit during the first week of April. If the Bears feel strongly about him, he could be a candidate for them in the third or fourth round.

Unfortunately, the Bears might find themselves limited due to their draft capital. They have just four total draft selections after trading three picks for veterans over the past six months. Two of their selections are also top-10 picks, which essentially guarantees they will not be using either of them to find a new center.

In the third and fourth rounds, though, the Bears may seize the opportunity to draft Frazier — or another prospect like him — depending on how the board falls.