The Chicago Bears may have just found their starting center for the 2024 season.

The Bears announced on March 4 that they have agreed to trade their 2024 fifth-round pick to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for a veteran interior lineman Ryan Bates. The trade will not become official until the start of the new league year at 4 p.m. Eastern Time on March 13 and is contingent on Bates passing his physical.

Bates slid into a backup role behind veteran center Mitch Morse and first-round rookie guard O’Cyrus Torrence for the Bills in 2023, but the 27-year-old has generally been a reliable part of their interior rotation over the past three seasons. According to Pro Football Focus, he has allowed just one sack and eight quarterback hits over 1,434 career snaps while splitting his time between right guard, left guard and center.

The Bears had previously tried to acquire Bates during Ryan Poles’ first offseason at the helm in 2022. He had signed Bates — then a restricted free agent — to a four-year offer sheet, but the Bills matched their offer and retained him on a $17 million contract.

Now, two years later, Bates is finally on his way to Chicago and will presumably have an opportunity to compete for their starting center job heading into the 2024 season. The Bears could still target a center in the 2024 NFL draft, but the fifth-round value the team is giving up suggests they intend for Bates to do more than fill a backup role.

The Bears will have Bates under contract for the next two seasons. He will cost $4 million against the salary cap in both 2024 and 2025, leaving them with more than $60 million in effective cap space heading into the start of NFL free agency on March 13.

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Chicago Bears agree to trade with Buffalo Bills for OL Ryan Bates

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) – The Chicago Bears finally landed offensive lineman Ryan Bates.

The Bears have agreed to trade a fifth-round pick to the Buffalo Bills for the 27-year-old Bates. The teams announced the deal on Monday night.

The move is pending a physical, and it won’t become official until the start of the NFL´s new business year on March 13.

Chicago tried to acquire Bates when he was a restricted free agent in 2022, signing him to an offer sheet. But the Bills retained Bates by matching the Bears´ $17 million, four-year contract offer.

Bates is entering his sixth NFL season. He is known for his versatility in being able to play various positions along the line.

Serving as a backup last season, he was limited to 35 snaps because Buffalo’s offensive line stayed healthy throughout the season. That was a switch from 2022, when Bates made 15 starts, 13 at right guard and two more at center.

The Bears have three offensive linemen eligible for free agency next week, including starter Lucas Patrick and Cody Whitehair, whose playing time diminished over the final half of last season.

The trade allows the salary cap-strapped Bills to free up about $1.4 million in payroll. Buffalo began the offseason projected to be at an NFL-high $44 million over the cap entering 2024.

Bates was an undrafted free agent out of Penn State in 2019, and he was acquired by Buffalo in a trade with Philadelphia that summer. He has 19 starts in 73 career games.