Former Bears OL James Daniels leaves for Steelers, joining Mitch Trubisky: report

The Bears weren’t very active in the first 24 hours of free agency, and they are losing another player as offensive lineman James Daniels is leaving for the Steelers. Daniels agreed to a three-year, $26.5 million deal Tuesday, NFL Network reported.

Former Bears general manager Ryan Pace drafted Daniels at No. 39 overall in 2018, and he played 54 games over four seasons. The Bears moved him among both guard positions and center, and ultimately he did not impress new general manager Ryan Poles enough to re-sign him.

Poles, a former offensive lineman, has been determined to reconstruct the o-line ever since taking the job in January. He was dismayed by the protection he saw when studying film from last season and vowed to fix it after the Bears allowed a league-worst 58 sacks.

Poles’ only free-agent deal so far was agreeing to terms on a three-year, $40.5 million contract with former Bengals defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi on Monday.