Bears Predicted to Part Ways With Projected $40 Million Star
The Chicago Bears are going to make some major changes to the roster this offseason, including to one unit specifically.
That unit is the offensive line, which struggled mightily throughout most of the season — in no small part due to injuries.
One of those who battled health issues was offensive guard Teven Jenkins. And while Jenkins was the best of the Bears’ linemen when on the field (he missed three full games and parts of multiple others), the 26-year-old could be elsewhere by March.
Jenkins has missed 12 full contests over the past three years due to injuries and just played out the final season of his four-year rookie contract. Chicago has three picks in the top 41 in the upcoming NFL draft, as well as nearly $70 million in salary cap space to retool the roster under new head coach Ben Johnson.
The Bears may spend big on the offensive line, but the fact that they haven’t re-upped with Jenkins yet leaves the door open for the team to look elsewhere — possibly to a rookie in the early second round — to replace Jenkins on a cheap rookie deal.
Mason Cameron of Pro Football Focus linked Jenkins to the San Francisco 49ers in the context of the growing likelihood he leaves Chicago.
“A series of nagging injuries plagued Jenkins’ 2024 campaign, but even still, he managed to produce well on the interior of this Bears’ offensive line,” Cameron wrote on January 22. “His 75.8 PFF pass-blocking grade stands as a career high for the 26-year-old guard after he allowed just a 3.8% pressure rate (also a career high).”
Teven Jenkins Will Command Considerable Contract in Free Agency
GettyOffensive guard Teven Jenkins of the Chicago Bears.
PFF ranked Jenkins as its 25th-best free agent heading into March, assuming he doesn’t extend in Chicago before then.
The website predicted his next contract, be it in San Francisco or elsewhere, at three years for $40 million total including $24 million fully guaranteed.
“Jenkins is a force to be reckoned with on most Sundays; the issue over his career thus far has been getting on the field on Sundays,” PFF wrote. “There are some occasional whiffs to clean up in pass protection, but it can’t exactly help his pass-set footwork going from right tackle to left tackle to left guard while also rehabbing a bunch over his rookie contract.”
Bears Could Spend Big on Offensive Line if Chiefs’ Trey Smith Becomes Available
GettyKansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Trey Smith.
Jenkins finished the season the 13th-rated guard out of 77 players who saw enough snaps to qualify at the position.
That ranking doesn’t make him elite, but it puts him in the neighborhood, and there should be a strong market for Jenkins if he hits free agency.
Meanwhile, Chicago could look at PFF’s No. 2-ranked free agent — Kansas City Chiefs guard Trey Smith — as its solitary big-money investment on the interior. Smith earned Pro Bowl honors in 2024 and will play in his third consecutive Super Bowl on February 9.
Paying Smith and dropping a couple of second-rounders on another offensive guard and a center on Day 2 of the draft would allow Chicago to completely overhaul the middle of its line. Darnell Wright and Braxton Jones are both young tackles on rookie contracts and could both be back in their respective starting roles next season.
