One of the strange twists to last year's disastrous Bears offensive line effort was how some of the backups outperformed starters.
These weren't necessarily players considered as potential starters some day in the future but more stop-gap or long-term league backups.
The Bears lost another one of those in free agency Thursday when Matt Pryor agreed to terms with the Philadelphia Eagles, his former team.
They easily could have retained Pryor if they had wanted him back, so it would appear they were moving on now that they're in a different blocking scheme. But Pryor did serve a purpose.
Matt Pryor is MOVING down the field.
Great patience from D’Andre Swift
pic.twitter.com/i2opAjS6CQ
— BOOG (@BoogCB) December 27, 2024
The 30-year-old, 6-foot-7, 332-pounder didn't tear it up as a pass blocker with seven sacks and 24 penalties allowed. The seven sacks allowed left him behind 130 out of 135 guards in avoiding sacks, according to Pro Football Focus. Yet, PFF gave him the second-best pass blocking grade of his career.
Pryor wound up playing a career-high 1,005 snaps, 895 at right guard, with 15 starts after starter Nate Davis has completely washed out. Pryor was on for one play at left tackle and 59 at right tackle.
The Eagles just made a SNEAKY GOOD move in NFL Free Agency by bringing back OL Matt Pryor.
Jason Kelce just shared his concerns this morning about the Eagles OL depth. Pryor will help there. He played very well in 15 starts last season for the Bears at guard.
Drafted by the… pic.twitter.com/IiPKZO9D3c
— Chase Senior (@Chase_Senior) March 27, 2025
Another backup guard who had to play because of Teven Jenkins' injuries, Bill Murray, had a PFF grade even higher than Pryor in a brief stint before a season-ending injury.
The Bears are not entirely depleted at these backup interior line positions behind new starters Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson, as Murray is still there, Ryan Bates is healthy know and plays both guard and center, and backup center Doug Kramer has also had some guard experience. Chris Glaser, who they signed last year, is still with the team, as well.
Colman Shelton gets obliterated and Matt Pryor gets driven back 5 yards on a simple O/S zone for those asking why the Bears aren’t running more. Here you go.
Ugly looking play. #DaBears #Bears #ChicagoBears pic.twitter.com/IsPqObKOLQ
— Clay Harbor (@clayharbs82) September 24, 2024
The need is there to find at least one more backup guard in the draft, however. Signing another lineman in free agency is possible but the Bears are down to only $9.2 million in effective cap space available according to Overthecap.com.
Pryor had started out in the league with the Eagles, then was with the Colts and 49ers before his one Bears season.
Bill Murray with Maximum effort here:
Not 1, not 2, but 3 guys he takes out here… pic.twitter.com/x8QG1AeeBD
— Da Bright Side Bear (@BrightSideBears) October 7, 2024
X: BearsOnSI