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The Chicago Bears will have no shortage of starting and 53-man roster spot competitions in training camp, but one of the most important ones has flown under the radar this offseason.
That competition comes at long snapper. While that's not exactly the most exciting one, it is an important one nonetheless, and especially when you consider who's competing.
Of course, the long snapper position doesn't get a lot of attention, but we've seen time and time again in the NFL how a long snapper problem can derail field goal and punting units by itself.
That's not something the Bears can afford during a season in which Chicago has legitimate Super Bowl aspirations.
The concern with Bears' long snapper competition
As things stand now, the Bears are set to have a competition at long snapper between Luke Elkin and Beau Gardner, both of whom are vying to replace Scott Daly, who signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency.
The concern there is that neither one has ever snapped a football in an NFL game, which makes them total wild cards.
Elkin is entering his second year in the NFL but didn't make it past the Raiders' practice squad in 2025, and Gardner is an undrafted free agent signing and rookie.
The one thing each player has going for them is that they had successful college careers.
Elkin, who came aboard via a futures deal in January and is a former college teammate of Bears punter Tory Taylor, handled deep snaps in all but one of the games he played in over four years with the Iowa Hawkeyes and won multiple awards.
Gardner split his six-year collegiate career with the UCLA Bruins (four years) and Georgia Bulldogs (two years) and was the primary long snapper in one year for UCLA and in two years for Georgia.
He also notched multiple honors in that span, including the Patrick Mannelly Award that honors the best senior long snapper in Division I.
Are the Bears done adding at long snapper?
It's entirely possible the Bears will stick with the two guys they have now, but nobody should be ruling out an addition at the position at some point, either before or during camp.
Since the Bears haven't added anyone yet, chances are they're going to go into camp with Elkin and Gardner. But if either one falters early on, we would expect Chicago to act.
If it comes to that, there's at least three veteran long snappers Chicago can consider in free agency, a list that includes Jacob Bobenmoyer, Aaron Brewer and Jake McQuaide.
All three of those players have significant NFL experience, and McQuaide in particular is a two-time Pro Bowler.
Don't be surprised to see any of those three or another veteran added to Chicago's roster in the next month if things go sideways with the current competition between Gardner and Elkin.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/bears/onsi as The Concerning Chicago Bears Competition Flying Under the Radar Before Training Camp.
