MOBILE, Ala. — With Ben Johnson at Halas Hall working to assemble his Chicago Bears coaching staff, NFL draft season got rolling this week during Senior Bowl practices in advance of Saturday’s game at Hancock Whitney Stadium on the campus of South Alabama.

Bears general manager Ryan Poles made a one-day appearance Wednesday to see a quality group of prospects. There’s not as much talent here as there was in 2024, but that’s reflective of a more wide-open first round than anything else. It’s a great draft for running backs and there’s good depth at offensive line and tight end — all positions that could be intriguing to the Bears.

After three days working the town, I picked up tidbits on free agency, the draft, the coaching staff and more. Here are three thoughts pertaining to the offensive line.

1. The prevailing thought during the season was there was no way Kansas City Chiefs right guard Trey Smith would make it to free agency.: Smith has been an anchor for the Chiefs since they drafted him in the sixth round in 2021. He has become one of the best guards in the league and is entering the prime years of his career, as he doesn’t turn 26 until June.

Now there’s growing sentiment that the Chiefs, with other key young players needing to be paid, could allow Smith to enter free agency. Another possibility is using the nonexclusive franchise tag on Smith as a means of engineering a tag-and-trade scenario, as they did in March with cornerback L’Jarius Sneed.

How could the Chiefs, who have to prioritize protecting quarterback Patrick Mahomes, possibly let Smith go?

“He might just get to free agency,” one general manager told me Wednesday morning. “The $20 million guard thing really scares some teams. Teams have seen how the top guards have been paid, and some of them, they don’t want to go there.”

The marketplace for interior offensive linemen has taken off. The highest-paid guard in the league — the Philadelphia Eagles’ Landon Dickerson — will be playing against the Chiefs and Smith in Super Bowl LIX. Dickerson is earning $21 million per season.

Chris Lindstrom of the Atlanta Falcons ($20.5 million average), Quenton Nelson of the Indianapolis Colts ($20 million) and Robert Hunt of the Carolina Panthers ($20 million) are all at or above the figure the GM referenced, and if Smith reaches the open market, he’s a shoo-in to reset the ceiling for guard pay. If the Chiefs use the franchise tag on Smith, it’s expected that figure will come in just above $23 million, a good bump above Dickerson.

Teams used to prioritize paying offensive tackles and tried to save money on the interior, but that has shifted slowly over the last decade and even more in the last five years. Teams have placed a greater emphasis on having a firm pocket for the quarterback to step up into to avoid pressure from the edges. Five other guards earn $17 million or more per season, so it’s not like only a few teams have started opening the vault for the position.

It requires a special player for teams to want to dig that deep for a guard, though, because of the adage that they don’t “score touchdowns or prevent touchdowns.”

“And they don’t protect the edges,” a pro personnel man said. “The first place you have to win in football is on the edges. But Trey Smith is awesome. Young, athletic, incredible run blocker, very good in pass protection. Prime of his career. Championship pedigree now.”

Smith tumbled in the draft when he came out of Tennessee because he had a blood-clot disorder — pulmonary emboli — that no longer should be a worry. He has missed only one game in his career.

It’s easy to see the Bears being a serious player for Smith, considering Poles was a high-ranking member of the Chiefs front office when Smith was drafted. It’s also easy to envision any number of teams with ample cap space — the New England Patriots, Washington Commanders, Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Chargers and Minnesota Vikings, among others — being interested.

If Smith hits the open market, he would have no shortage of suitors. If the Chiefs use the franchise tag on Smith with the intent of trading him, perhaps that could benefit the Bears because Kansas City would have some control over where he went.

The Chiefs dealt Sneed to the Tennessee Titans in March for a 2025 third-round pick and a swap of 2024 seventh-round picks. If all things were close to equal, maybe the Chiefs would prefer to trade Smith to an NFC team? That’s just me thinking aloud.

The Chiefs have a small handful of super-talented young players they need to find a way to pay. Defensive end George Karlaftis, cornerback Trent McDuffie and Smith are in that basket. It’s a great problem to have for the Chiefs, who are going for a three-peat.

If they don’t want to go north of $20 million for Smith — and veteran guard Joe Thuney will be in the final year of a five-year, $80 million contract in 2025 — maybe Smith gets out. I asked around a little about Thuney and whether the Chiefs could move on from him, and the folks I chatted with thought that was unlikely.

Everyone is playing connect-the-dots with Smith and the Bears, and there’s no question it’s something the team is keeping a close eye on. Know this: Lots of teams will be monitoring this situation, and some will be more than willing to make Smith the highest-paid guard in the league if they have the opportunity.

First he has to make it out of Kansas City, and it won’t be an easy decision for the Chiefs after the Super Bowl.

2. The Bears have a few different directions they could go to overhaul the offensive line: The puzzle almost certainly will include pieces added via free agency and the draft. But how they fit together is the story that has to be answered.

My thinking for some time is the Bears will emphasize getting better on the interior to create a more consistent pocket for quarterback Caleb Williams. That scenario likely would require three new starters. If the team invests heavily from guard to guard, Braxton Jones probably goes into the summer atop the depth chart at left tackle with the team eager to see where a fully healthy Kiran Amegadjie is.

There’s also a scenario in which the Bears are in the market for a new left tackle. I don’t know if that player is available in free agency — it’s a down year across the board and things drop off quickly after Smith and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins. That player could be available in the draft.

Before we dive into names and highlight players who looked good in Senior Bowl practices, realize that if you’re banking on the Bears having an offensive line that is 80% new with only right tackle Darnell Wright returning as a starter, something will have to give elsewhere with other roster needs and wants.

This doesn’t stack up as a great draft for offensive linemen, but there is depth. There isn’t a left tackle prospect who is a slam-dunk top-five pick without clear holes in his game.

LSU’s Will Campbell has tremendous makeup and played at a high level in college. He’ll get dinged at the scouting combine for having short arms. How short? We’ll see. Ideally, teams prefer a left tackle to have at least 34-inch arms. When I chatted with a college scouting director last month, he told me Campbell stood out for being really strong with excellent feet and was super competitive. The length is a concern and different teams will weigh that differently.

It’s possible Campbell makes it to No. 10, where the Bears are drafting, but the top 10 is wide open. It’s a bad draft for quarterbacks, so that doesn’t help teams who aren’t shopping for one.

Texas’ Kelvin Banks Jr. is another left tackle who could come off the board in the top half of Round 1. It’s really early in the process to start guessing where players will go. The safe play for Poles — and it’s not sexy — is to draft Alabama guard Tyler Booker at No. 10. He’s as clean of a prospect as there probably will be in that range, a guy with a high floor and considerable ceiling. Interior linemen don’t often go in the top 10 though.

Where this draft has some bright options for linemen is on Day 2. There were some talented players in Mobile who could find their way into the back half of Round 1 when the evaluation process is complete.

One player who really captured the attention of folks I visited with was North Dakota State’s Grey Zabel. He got action at tackle, guard and center. Most believe the Bison left tackle will emerge as a guard in the NFL, but he looked powerful and pretty fluid wherever he lined up.

“Excellent anchoring versus power,” a college scouting director said. “He sticks on someone, he locks on and he anchors. He’s got good anchor mobility. That allows him to handle power. He’s not stiff in his ankles. He redirects very well. The best thing about him, watch where his hands are. His hands are always inside and in the proper position, so he has obviously been well-coached.

“That’s what you expect when you have that helmet on. That’s why guys don’t leave North Dakota State. They know they are getting coached, getting developed and they know they have a direct path to the NFL, plus they win all the time and they get more tape because they play more games in the FCS playoffs.

“And they play in a system that translates very well to the NFL. Zone and gap run game, drop-back passing, play-action passing. Outside of places like Iowa and the old-school Wisconsin, there aren’t many like them anymore in college football.”

Zabel was a standout for the National team, and Oregon left tackle Josh Conerly — a potential first-round pick — West Virginia’s Wyatt Milun and North Carolina State’s Anthony Belton also looked the part. On the American roster, LSU’s Emery Jones, Arizona’s Jonah Savaiinaea and Alabama A&M’s Carson Vinson showed well.

Savaiinaea, at 6-foot-5, 336 pounds, played right tackle last fall and likely will be a guard. He moves pretty well for his size and comes from the Honolulu powerhouse Saint Louis School that produced six-time Pro Bowl Bears center Olin Kreutz.

“I just want to show teams that I can respond to adversity and I am not going to make the same mistake over and over,” said Savaiinaea, who projects as a Day 2 pick. “I am going to learn from a mistake the first time.”

Linemen, especially guards, should be valued in Rounds 2 and 3, and depending on what unfolds in free agency and Round 1, the Bears could find a player there. They’ll have to stock the line with some talent on rookie contracts because filling all of their holes with veterans would be expensive and ultimately a short-term fix.

3. The Bears are expected to interview Tulane’s Dan Roushar for offensive line coach Friday: The team interviewed Ohio State offensive line coach Justin Frye on Wednesday, and it’s possible another college coach could emerge as a candidate. This is a big hire for Johnson as the Bears need to get significantly better in the trenches, and they are expected to pour serious resources into the line this offseason.

It’s difficult to handicap how things will shake out because, as one coach who is seeking work told me Wednesday night, “One day you hear you’re good and you’re going one place, and the next day you’re not going there.” Yes, it’s a high-paced, high-stakes game of musical chairs as teams seek to fill out staffs and coaches seek jobs and/or promotions.

Roushar, 64, has been at Tulane the last two seasons but has 10 years of NFL experience with the New Orleans Saints and was on the staff with new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle for the final four years of his run there. If that’s a factor in the evaluation, things could tilt toward Roushar. Everyone I ran into in Mobile had positive things to say about him.

Some folks will tell you the offensive line coach is the most important position coach on any staff. So it’s a significant move for Johnson, and along those lines, so will be his choice for a defensive line coach. Reading the tea leaves after talking to a handful of folks, it sounds unlikely that any of the defensive position coaches under Matt Eberflus will stay.

Linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi and safeties coach Andre Curtis followed Eberflus to the Dallas Cowboys, who hired him as defensive coordinator. Defensive line coach Travis Smith might have a shot to remain with the Bears as he worked previously with Dennis Allen in Denver. But the Bears could be going in a different direction.

I believe tight ends coach Jim Dray is in the mix to be retained on Johnson’s staff, but he could be the only position coach to stick around. Of course, special teams coordinator Richard Hightower was retained and it’s possible some assistant position coaches remain in the mix.