Getty Bears head coach Matt Eberflus.

The Chicago Bears are entering their second-to-last full week of 2024 training camp and still do not have starting right guard Nate Davis back from his injury. Davis’ absence has become such a problem that Windy City Gridiron’s Bill Zimmerman is now urging the Bears to bench the 27-year-old starter “permanently.”

Davis — who signed a three-year, $30 million contract with the Bears in March 2023 — has not practiced in full since July 27 when he first suffered a strain in his lower leg. The Bears tried to ease him back into individual drills during August 4’s practice, but he experienced a setback with his strain and returned to the sideline for further evaluation.

Now, the Bears are less than a month away from the start of the 2024 regular season and still have not had the opportunity to practice regularly with their entire starting offensive line. Not only is Davis’ absence problematic for the offense as a whole, but it also impedes the development of rookie quarterback Caleb Williams — who has been forced to adapt to rotating centers with Ryan Bates covering for Davis at right guard.

“It’s time for Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus to be bold,” Zimmerman wrote on August 12. “It’s time to bench Nate Davis. Not for two days. Not for two weeks. Permanently.”

Best Course for Bears May Be Keeping Ryan Bates at Right Guard and Starting Coleman Shelton at Center

Zimmerman’s argument is a sensible one. The Bears’ first-team offense has gone weeks without being able to practice with Davis and, with time running out before the start of the season, could benefit if they instead stick with their altered alignment for 2024.

Those changes would entail the Bears committing to Bates — a versatile offseason trade addition from Buffalo — as their starting right guard and giving the starting center job to Coleman Shelton, whom the Bears intended to compete with Bates for the role.

Zimmerman also isn’t alone in his thinking. Bleacher Report’s Joe Tansey predicted in his August 12 article that Shelton will win the center job while Bates will win out at right guard due to “Davis’ week-to-week injury status.” Tansey did leave the door open for veteran Matt Pryor — who has guard-tackle versatility — to play right guard if the Bears are sold on keeping Bates at center, but both outcomes end with Davis on the bench.

Additionally, Zimmerman circled back to his previous report that former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel “hates” Davis from his time in Tennesseee due to his availability issues. At the time, Zimmerman said he thought Vrabel’s viewpoint could be “related more to who Vrabel was than who Davis was,” but he admits now he was wrong.

“It’s clear to everyone that the Bears are at their wit’s end with Davis,” Zimmerman wrote. “Eberflus’ comments about him make it very obvious. There’s no point in continuing this debacle. Put Davis on the bench and cut him at the end of the season.”

Nate Davis is Difficult to Cut Under Current Contract

While benching Davis is a potential solution that is growing in popularity among fans and media members, some fans are probably wondering, “Why not just cut the guy?”

Unfortunately, the answer is simple: Cutting Davis would save the Bears nearly nothing.

Davis carries a salary-cap hit of roughly $11.35 million for the 2024 season with a base salary of $8.5 million. If the Bears cut Davis, they would instead take on a dead-cap hit of $10.75 million and save a little more than $600,000 in cap space. As frustrating as Davis’ availability issues have become, it would not make sense for them to boot him when they are still on the hook for more than 94% of his total earnings in 2024.

Even if Davis becomes nothing more than an overpaid bench player, the Bears stand to lose more if they ditch him than if they keep him. While Davis did not play great in his first season with the Bears in 2023 — and missed time with an injury — there are worse things to have than a 27-year-old backup guard with 65 career starts on his record.

Barring an unforeseen comeback for Davis, though, Chicago will likely want to move on from him during the 2025 offseason. The Bears would incur a dead-cap charge of just $2 million and clear $9.5 million in cap space if they cut Davis after the 2024 season.