The Bears' signing Monday of former Steelers-Lions-Bills offensive tackle Jonathan Scott can't be interpreted as a positive statement about the future of reserve right tackle Chris Williams
The 6-foot-6, 310-pound Scott is not completely dissimilar to past Bears tackles Frank Omiyale or John St. Clair. He's a journeyman who started games at both left and right tackle with several teams. With Pittsburgh he started 15 games over 2010-11 when other starters were injured.
General manager Phil Emery definitely hasn't taken a breather once the free agency and draft seasons ended. He continues scouring for ways to build depth.
"I think as you talk with Phil, what we've always said is we'll continue to just improve our roster at all times," coach Lovie Smith said. "It's as simple as that. We had an opportunity to get a good football player in here. We're excited about him becoming a Bear."
Williams can't be counted in that category. The 2008 first-round draft pick lost the battle for starting left tackle to J'Marcus Webb, who had a positive season-opener. Williams is costing the Bears only $1 million in salary in this, the final season of his current contract. The veteran's minimum deal Scott got isn't much less, so cash isn't a consideration.
In the past, Williams had the extra added benefit of being a player who could play multiple positions. He started at guard for two seasons before moving back to tackle this year. However, he did not excel at the position and appears no better than a backup at the spots. The Bears are not in need of versatility on the line as much as in the past because they have Edwin Williams and Chilo Rachal as backup guards and Edwin Williams or starting guard Chris Spencer can center if something happened to Roberto Garza.
They could always use an upgrade at backup tackle. The Lions released Scott after he had a knee injury early in camp and then went on injured reserve.
“I think I’ll definitely get that opportunity here," Scott said. "We (the Bears and his agent) had a brief dialogue after being released with Detroit and I had good history in Pittsburgh, so hopefully my skill set helps the team get better.”
The injury wasn't considered serious enough to keep him sidelined an entire season, or, in fact, for very long at all.
"Real healthy, very healthy," he said, when asked his condition. "Healthy enough to play."
Follow Bears reporter Gene Chamberlain on Twitter @CBSBears.
