Eddie Goldman’s absence from mandatory minicamp was bothersome. Bears Head Coach Matt Nagy said it was an unexcused absence. And listening to Nagy talk about it, Goldman’s absence seemed unexpected. The mere thought of another high-profile opt-out or holdout situation had me thinking about the up-hill battle it would’ve been to repeat an excellent defensive season without the big man in the middle.
But we can start breathing easier now:
I can confirm from a source very close to the situation that the #Bears' Eddie Goldman will indeed be reporting to training camp on time.
He will not he holding out or opting out as any of the recent rampant speculation has suggested.
— Bill Zimmerman (@ZimmermanSXM) June 24, 2021
Bill Zimmerman of SiriusXM Radio hears that Goldman will indeed report to training camp on time in July. There will be no hold out. Nor will there be a second season of opting out. After a year away from the team, Goldman will be back in the fold when camp opens later next month.
That breeze you felt was likely a sigh of relief from anyone and everyone who knows how important Goldman is to this defense.
Goldman, 27, does a ton of the dirty work at the line of scrimmage. He eats blockers, devours running backs, pressures quarterbacks, and is a key piece to the Bears’ defense. But after exercising his right not to play due to health concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic last summer, Chicago was scrambling to replace his presence. Goldman’s decision had the Bears searching far and wide for help at the position. Let’s face it. There simply aren’t enough humans that large with those skills and play the nose tackle position that well. Ultimately, the team landed on a rotation of John Jenkins, Bilal Nichols, and Brent Urban to bridge the gap. And in the end, Chicago’s football team put together another top-10 defense by DVOA’s standards. Not bad if you consider everything that went into getting to that point.
I will admit it was worrisome not having Goldman in the building after he opted out of playing last year due to concerns about the pandemic. The Bears did well to piece together a solid run defense in Goldman’s absence, but doing it again would’ve been quite a challenge. Thankfully, it’s not an issue Chicago has do deal with as Goldman re-joins the defense. Whew.