The Chicago Bears needed to bolster their center position given a recent injury to Hroniss Grasu. The Bears did just that over the weekend, signing center Jack Allen and waiving defensive end Bunmi Rotimi. Allen's addition to the roster will keep second-round pick James Daniels from having to double-dip at left guard and center in camp with the team transitioning him to the left side after playing up in the middle during his time at Iowa.

Allen is no stranger to the Chicagoland area. He played at Hinsdale Central High School in Hinsdale, Illinois. Part of the Class of 2011, Allen was rated as a three-star recruit with a 0.8610 composite score by 247Sports. He was ranked 527th overall nationally, 10 among centers and 14th in the state of Illinois. He received plenty of interest from Big Ten schools during his recruitment. After receiving offers from Wisconsin, Northwestern, Iowa and Indiana, Allen committed to Michigan State early in February 2011.

He spent his freshman year as a redshirt before seeing action in every game in 2012. That season he started 12 games, including seven at center and five at left guard. He was also named to a variety of All-Freshman teams from various different news outlets. He then started all 12 games at center in 2013 as a sophomore. He ended that season as a second-team All-Big Ten member by the media and an honorable mention by the coaches in the division.

Allen truly came into his own during his junior season in 2014. That season he became just the fourth Michigan State center to be named an All-American for his efforts by USA Today. He was also named a third-team All-American by the Associated Press. He started 11 of the team's 13 games at center that season. He capped off his final season in 2015 being named to The Associated Press' All-American team. He was also named a first-team All-American by CBS Sports and Sports Illustrated that season. He was also named a finalist for the Rimington Trophy which is given to the country's most outstanding center.

When he entered the NFL Draft, NFL.com compared him to former Bears center Olin Kreutz. Despite that high praise, Allen went undrafted. He has spent the last two offseason with the New Orleans Saints after he went undrafted.

Chicago was hoping it could find a diamond in the rough in Rotimi. The Old Dominion defender missed three games last season but recorded 29 tackles, seven tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks and five pass deflections. Unfortunately for him, the depth at the position for the Bears was going to make it difficult for him to hang onto a roster spot. Akiem Hicks, Jonathan Bullard, Roy Robertson-Harris and rookie Bilal Nichols are all expected to be major contributors for Chicago this season.