Bears acquire a fifth-round pick for Ryan Bates from the Buffalo Bills.
The Bears traded a fifth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for offensive tackle Ryan Bates.
The Chicago Bears have sold a fifth-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for offensive tackle Ryan Bates, the team said. The Buffalo Bills were the first to announce the deal.
The trade will not be made official until March 13, the start of the new league year. Bates must also complete a physical.
General manager Ryan Poles wanted to sign Bates in 2022 as a restricted free agent. But the Bills matched the Bears’ offer sheet for Bates, bringing him back to the franchise.
As of this writing, the Bears have zero Day 3 picks after trading their fifth-round pick from this year. That means they don’t have a pick in the fifth, sixth, or seventh rounds of the draft.
According to PFF, Bates allowed 28 pressures and one sack in 615 pass-blocking snaps in 2022. In 2022, he played predominantly right guard (810 snaps), but also center (135 snaps). In 2023, he played only 35 snaps, all of which came at center.
Bates has two more years on his current contract, giving the Bears a $5.4 million cap cost over the next two seasons, according to Spotrac.
Bates, 27, has spent all five seasons of his NFL career with the Bills, starting 19 of 73 games.
