Bears’ $30 Million Bust Drawing Interest Before NFL Trade Deadline

Getty Bears general manager Ryan Poles, left, could have an opportunity to offload one of his veteran free agent busts.

The Chicago Bears might not need to wait until the 2025 offseason to cut ties with $30 million bust Nate Davis with the team receiving trade interest in the veteran guard ahead of next month’s fast-approaching NFL trade deadline.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Davis is among players “whose names are generating trade interest” ahead of the NFL’s upcoming trade deadline on November 5. The 28-year-old right guard has started 67 career games over the past six seasons, but the Bears benched him from their starting lineup in Week 3 and haven’t looked back.

“A potential key depth piece for a team in need,” Rapoport wrote on October 20.

Rapoport isn’t the only one touting Davis’ trade candidacy. CBS Sports’ Jordan Dajani also named Davis the top potential trade candidate at the guard position for the 2024 trade deadline, citing his 60-plus games of starting experience as his biggest allure.

“Davis, who signed a three-year deal with the Chicago Bears [in the 2023] offseason, was a healthy inactive [in Week 6],”  Dajani wrote on October 18. “The Bears would certainly listen to offers on the veteran guard who has 67 starts to his name.”

Nate Davis Collecting Dust for Bears After Benching

If the Bears are receiving calls about Davis’ availability, they should have all the reason in the world to listen to any offers for the veteran now collecting dust on their bench.

When the Bears signed Davis to his three-year, $30 million contract in March 2023, they believed he would help stabilize the interior of their offensive line and hold down the right guard position for their rebuilding offense. Six games into his second season with the team, though, Davis’ inconsistent play and injuries — and his penchant for not wanting to practice — prompted the Bears to push him out of the rotation entirely.

The most damning strike against Davis came before the bye week when the team flew to London for an international matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Instead of keeping Davis in place as a backup, the Bears made him a healthy scratch and turned to 2023 practice-squad player Bill Murray as the backup behind Teven Jenkins and Matt Pryor.

Things may only get worse for Davis’ standing with the team coming out of the bye, too. The Bears are now eligible to activate Bates from the injured reserve list and could open his 21-day practice window in Week 8 as they ready for the Washington Commanders.

While it is unclear how quickly Bates will return to the fold for the Bears, his presence would further reduce the need for Davis — and seemingly make him more tradeable.

Trading Nate Davis is Best-Case Scenario for Bears

Given Davis’ trajectory, the Bears would likely consider finding a trade partner for him before the upcoming deadline the best possible conclusion to his time in Chicago.

Barring a significant turnaround from Davis in 2024, the Bears will almost certainly cut him once the 2025 offseason arrives. They would save $9.5 million in cap space if they released him after the season and would only incur a $2 million dead-cap penalty, an easy decision to make for someone making starter money but not playing hardly at all.

If the Bears trade Davis before the deadline, though, they would save even more money. Davis’ $8.75 million base salary is fully guaranteed for 2024, but the remaining amount would land with the acquiring team if the Bears managed to trade him. They would also offload his remaining per-game roster bonuses; although, Davis does not make those bonuses if the Bears leave him inactive, as they did in Week 6 against Jacksonville.

More importantly, the Bears would gain draft capital if they found a team willing to take Davis off their hands at the 2024 season’s midway point. It might not be much, perhaps only a mid-to-late Day 3 selection. After all, Davis is now a benchwarmer who cannot earn playing time for an offense that has struggled with its offensive line. Anything is better than the nothing they would receive if they simply cut Davis in 2025, though.