The Chicago Bears have officially reached a cross roads with a high-priced former starter and will soon have to make a decision that's going to be hard to swallow.
Prior to the Bears' Week 6 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, offensive guard Nate Davis was listed among the inactive players for Chicago. Davis was not listed on the injury report at any point during the week, meaning he was a healthy inactive.
That's right. The Bears felt like they were a better team without a $10 million man in uniform and that should be a red flag to the entire front office.
Signing Davis as a free agent prior to the 2023 season was one of the biggest deals general manager Ryan Poles has landed since taking the role with the Bears. You can't fault Poles for wanting to bring in a big name to sure up one of the team's lingering concerns, but Davis has never proved to be worth his 3-year, $30 million contract.
Between personal issues, injuries, and now performance concerns, Davis' days in Chicago should be counting down after Sunday's latest development.
Since signing with the Bears, Davis has started 13 of the team's 23 games. And only started the first two games of this season. At the start of the season, Davis rotated with fellow offensive lineman Ryan Bates at right guard after both players dealt with injury issues leading up to Week 1 . Once Bates was placed on the injured reserve, it was Davis' job to lose, and he quickly did so with Matt Pryor taking his place.
The Bears tried to be patient with Davis and give him a fighting chance to keep his job after dealing with a handful of injuries, but it's reached a breaking point. And it's not just availability that's been a concern. Since Week 1 of last season, Davis has allowed 35 total pressures, six penalties, and seven QB hits.
Losing the starting job is one thing, but now the Bears aren't even comfortable having him has a backup option either. And that's because other people stepped up when Davis didn't at the position. Pryor has played really good at right guard since taking over in pass protection and Bill Murray looked like a high-level backup filling in for Teven Jenkins at left guard in Week 5.
The Bears are also expected to get Larry Borom and Bates back from the injured reserve in the coming weeks, perhaps even after the Week 7 bye week coming up.
After making Davis a healthy inactive, the only thing left to do is cut ties with him and eat the remainder of his contract. Clearly the coaches have lost all trust in him and now it's time for the front office to make the decision.
If the Bears cut Davis, it would have to reasonably be after the season, when the majority of his $19.5 million guaranteed is fully paid. After the 2024 season, Davis' dead cap number drops from $12,750,000 to $2,000,000. It's looking like that's the only road left for Davis and the Bears.
Related: Bears' strength looks better than ever after overcoming major obstacle vs. Jaguars in Week 6
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