American Football
The Bears cut their worst free agent signing, and fans celebrated it like a big win
Nate Davis is gone, and Bears fans are happy.
The Chicago Bears signed offensive guard Nate Davis to a three-year, $30 million deal in free agency in 2023 to finally add some beef to a leaky offensive line. The signing almost immediately proved to be a disaster. Davis was in-and-out of practice with minor injuries from the time he signed the deal, preventing the Bears from forming the type of chemistry on the offensive line they desired. After a terrible first season with the team, Davis was somehow even less reliable this year.
The Bears cut Davis on Wednesday, deciding they would rather have him off the team than in a backup role. Chicago has been banged up on the offensive line all year, and just allowed nine sacks against a weak New England Patriots pass rush in a devastating Week 10 loss. Chicago is free-falling down the standings in the wake of Jayden Daniels’ Hail Mary, and now both offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and Davis have been let go.
Davis was supposed to be in a reserve role on Sunday against the Patriots. When he showed up to Solider Field, he told the team he couldn’t play because of a back injury. That was the final straw in letting him go:
Bears apparently have had it with offensive guard Nate Davis after he called in with a surprise back injury Sunday morning.
He has been cut halfway through a 3-yr, $30M contract. Bears will end up paying him ~$20.4M for 13 starts in an absolute disaster of a free-agent signing.
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) November 13, 2024
The Bears’ offensive line has been just about the worst in the league this season. Rookie quarterback Caleb Williams has been under constant duress. Williams has been sacked 38 times so far, which leads the NFL. A year ago, Bears QB Justin Fields was sacked 44 times, which finished as the fifth most in the NFL, despite missing a couple games.
Chicago general manager Ryan Poles is a former offensive lineman. Fixing the trenches should be his specialty, but instead he’s mostly gone cheap up front with disastrous results. Davis was the one player he actually spent money on, and he was just terrible from the jump.
When the Bears released Davis on Wednesday, fans celebrated it like a big win.
Made a Nate Davis highlight reel from his time with the #Bears pic.twitter.com/w9V3PPbQ3u
— Jacob Infante (@jacobinfante24) November 13, 2024
Might’ve stolen this from other tweets I’ve seen but my biggest meatball take is that Nate Davis, this year specifically, is the main reason why the locker room seems so broken. Him repeatedly sitting out with weird injuries seems very fishy
— Kevin Sullivan (@KevinSullivan9) November 13, 2024
Nate Davis is a good reminder when things are off in your life, cutting your losses sooner is better than later.
— Mark Carman (@thecarm) November 13, 2024
#Bears fans hearing they’ve released Nate Davis pic.twitter.com/0zG2htdgV4
— Zachary Keagle (@keagster1) November 13, 2024
The Bears won’t have many wins left with Matt Eberflus leading them as head coach. Chicago is 4-5 on the year, but face the league’s toughest remaining schedule, including six divisional games in the loaded NFC North. Firing Waldron and cutting Davis is a good start to addressing the team’s problems, but Eberflus needs to be fired, too.
The Bears are free-falling, but at least their fans got a couple things to celebrate this week with Davis and Waldron gone.