Chicago Bears add Bryan Witzmann to offensive line
By Matt Conner
The Chicago Bears and head coach Matt Nagy have signed a familiar face in offensive lineman Bryan Witzmann.
The Chicago Bears have added signed a familiar face in former Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Bryan Witzmann.
The Bears announced the move on Monday and he becomes the team’s ninth offensive lineman. He took the roster spot of linebacker Sam Acho, who was placed on injured reserve with a torn pectoral muscle.
Witzmann brings some solid experience to the Bears offensive line after starting nearly a full season at left guard for the Kansas City Chiefs just one season ago. Witzmann was also a back-up at tackle and comes with some needed positional versatility for Chicago. It’s not surprising that Witzmann might land with Chicago due to head coach Matt Nagy’s familiarity with him in K.C.
The timing of Witzmann’s signing is also interesting from the Chiefs perspective because the team just lost a starting guard of their own in right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. LDT went down on Sunday with a broken fibula. Andy Reid, the team’s head coach, did say that he believes Duvernay-Tardif will be able to play again this season but he’s expected to miss the bulk of the regular season—or what is left of it.
Without Witzmann on the open market, the Chiefs are just a bit more limited in their potential options to replace him. Jordan Devey stepped in when Duvernay-Tardif went down during the game, so perhaps he is the odds-on favorite to start. However, over the long-term, the inability to sign Witzmann now might have cut off one of Brett Veach’s options in the open market.