Either way it’s clear Josh Sitton is a part of National Football League free agency now and no doubt has a number of suitors eager for the chance to bring him in to help their current line situations. The long-time Packer was singed by the Chicago Bears on Sunday to a new three year contract.
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The Packers were hoping to trade Sitton, but they were unable to find a partner and released him while cutting their roster down to 53 players Saturday.
The Bears welcome their former enemy (a Green Bay Packers player) into the fold, and have apparently handed him a three year, $21.5 million deal with $10 million guaranteed.
Long has been nursing a shoulder injury, but could return to practice this week prior to the Week One game in Houston. Apparently, they weren’t thrilled about paying him some $6 million this season and didn’t think they could get a long-term contract done. Even with a series of injuries, he has only missed two games, and that was in 2011.
Sitton, 30, has made the Pro Bowl the last two seasons, and also played in the 2012 edition of the game.
With Sitton’s arrival, 2016 second-round selection Cody Whitehair will likely be pushed to the bench, ESPN noted. The Bears have $22 million in cap space, so it should be no problem adding a piece that could offer Jay Cutler solid protection, something the Bears have rarely been able to do in recent years. Namely, left tackle David Bakhtiari, center J.C. Tretter or left guard T.J. Lang. Veteran lineman Ted Larsen is projected to start at center, replacing the injured Hroniss Grasu – who will miss the entire season with a torn ACL.
Kush also was cut Saturday after appearing in seven games with the Rams last season. Chicago’s o-line allowed 33 sacks, which was tied for the 11 fewest in 2015.
The turnover on the offensive line for the Seattle Seahawks has been rather staggering.
Gould’s 2015 regular season also included devastating misses from 40 and 36 yards in a December 6 overtime home loss to San Francisco and a miss from 50 yards with a chance to tie Washington in regulation the following week.
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Gould had quite a run with the Bears, becoming their most accurate kicker ever at 85.4 percent and career scoring leader with 1,207 points. But throughout this offseason and training camp, his accuracy was inconsistent, something not easily dismissed as meaningless after two stretches last season in which he missed three straight field goals.
