LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Chris Williams may still be the Bears’ left tackle of the future. But the 2008 first-round draft pick from Vanderbilt is the team’s right tackle of the present.

Williams will flip-flop positions to accommodate the addition of free agent Orlando Pace, a seven-time Pro Bowler who will line up at left tackle after signing a three-year contract with the Bears.

Chris Williams is moving from left tackle to right tackle in his second season with the Bears.

“I don’t care,” Williams said. “I just want to play. You can put me at free safety if you want as long as I’m playing. I’m just excited about getting out there and playing.”

Williams is eager to get on the field after a back injury derailed his rookie season. After missing the first six games while recovering from surgery, the 6-6, 312-pounder made his NFL debut on the extra point and field goal teams last Nov. 2 in a win over the Lions.

Williams then lined up at left tackle for the final five snaps in a blowout loss at Green Bay two weeks later and spent the rest of the season playing as a third tight end in goal-line and short-yardage situations.

Two of the NFL’s best offensive linemen over the past decade—the Ravens’ Jonathan Ogden and the Panthers’ Jordan Gross—both started their careers at right tackle before moving to the left side.  

“I played a little bit of everywhere in college,” Williams said. “I played left tackle, right tackle, left guard and some center. It doesn’t matter. It’s all the same when you break it down to fundamentals.”

Williams is ecstatic that the Bears were able to sign Pace.

“It affects the whole team,” Williams said. “Orlando Pace is a one-of-a-kind player who I watched on film since I was in high school. I’m geeked about it. I’m so excited to have a guy like that here. To have him and a guy like Olin [Kreutz], that puts [13] Pro Bowls in our room.”

While Williams is expected to start this season, he will be challenged by free-agent acquisition Kevin Shaffer, a seven-year veteran who started 47 of 48 games the past three seasons with the Cleveland Browns. 

Politically speaking: Former Bears linebacker Jim Schwantz on Tuesday was elected mayor of Palatine, a northwest suburb of Chicago. Schwantz reportedly called his win over longtime incumbent Rita Mullins “extremely humbling.”

Schwantz, who grew up in Palatine and attended Fremd High School and Purdue University, appeared in all 16 games with the Bears in 1998, recording a team-high 23 special teams tackles. He has more recently served as a Bears pre-game radio analyst on WBBM 780 AM.

Schwantz entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Bears in 1992. He spent most of his first two seasons on Chicago’s practice squad, but he did appear in the 1992 season finale.

Schwantz played for the Dallas Cowboys from 1994-96, winning a Super Bowl ring in 1995 and getting voted to the Pro Bowl as the NFC’s special teams representative in 1996. He spent one season with the San Francisco 49ers in 1997 before returning for his second tour with the Bears. 

Sad news: Former Bears defensive lineman Ken Anderson died last Friday night of a heart attack at age 33. Anderson joined the Bears as an undrafted free agent in 1998. He spent his rookie season on injured reserve with an ankle injury before registering one tackle in two games in 1999.

Another ex-Bears player, Al Campana, died Tuesday from an undisclosed illness. He was 83. Campana played three seasons with the Bears from 1950-52 before concluding his NFL career with the Chicago Cardinals in 1953.