The Chicago Bears gave up 67 sacks last season. That leaves no doubt as to what their priorities will be going into the 2025 off-season. GM Ryan Poles and head coach Ben Johnson must use every resource available to fortify the offensive line. Center? Guard? Tackle? Everything is on the table. It is only a matter of figuring out who they should target and how to get them. One of the first orders of business is determining if anybody who played this past season is worth keeping. The three names that stand out are center Coleman Shelton, left guard Teven Jenkins, and backup guard Matt Pryor.
Shelton was surprisingly reliable in a chaotic situation this season, overcoming a slow start to become their most consistent blocker not named Darnell Wright. Pryor had to step in after Nate Davis was cut midseason. While he wasn’t anything special, he performed far better than most had any right to expect. The big uncertainty is Jenkins. When healthy, he’s shown he can be a good player. Sadly, he’s missed several games over his four seasons in Chicago. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN seems to think that hard truth will lead to changes.
Latest on whether they will re-sign guard Teven Jenkins: Expect the Bears to spend on their interior offensive line after this season’s struggles protecting Williams up front. That could leave Jenkins looking elsewhere as Chicago replenishes the line. — Fowler
The Chicago Bears are likely wiping the slate clean.
Right now, only Wright should be considered safe. He’s a former 1st round pick who played pretty well last season. The four other spots up front are up for grabs, especially along the interior. Most believe the Bears will have at least three new starters by the end of spring. It could be four, depending on what Johnson thinks of embattled left tackle Braxton Jones, who’s coming off of a season-ending injury. Details will start surfacing next month as free agency draws closer. Everybody expects the Bears to come out aggressively on the market.
Chiefs right guard Trey Smith and Falcons center Drew Dalman are two names already generating buzz. Once that period ends, all eyes will shift to the draft. The Chicago Bears hadn’t had two homegrown 1st round offensive linemen at the same time since 2011, when Chris Williams and Gabe Carimi briefly shared the field. Maybe that finally comes to an end in two months.
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I wouldn’t give 20m+ to Smith. I would rather sign Becton for half that. Then I honestly believe they go get a new starting C like Dalman and Becton in FA. They will keep Ricky Stromberg as a backup, who is a solid C, that they can retain very cheap because he is coming off injury. Will probably move Kiran inside to Guard as a backup. Draft a Tackle/Guard, resign Bill Murray, and probably take a flier or two on low end free agents.
Can the Bears really afford to remove both Jenkins and Jones when Kiran and Bates might not be available or decent enough? And Borom likely gone. Local Kramer as deficient too. Shelton as adequate when not on his back.
Keep all the affordable linemen – draft linemen – sign UDFA linemen … grab all you can and keep the best we can find. I’m not a fan of throwing $$$ at Trey Smith, decent player in a weak FA class. Sunday didn’t do him any favors. Jim Finks and Jerry Vainisi did it right …
The game is won or lost in the trenches. Philadelphia just showed the rest of the NFL how it’s done.
jmscooby, you got a good sense of humor and I like that!! It looks like the mayor’s ex-brother is in a prison yard. I also, was not a fan of Kyle Long; guy always got bad penalties and got by because of the family name. My hope is that the new coaching staff can find good dependable linemen while they draft new linemen this year moving forward. I saw that the Eagles O-line is basically a couple of 1st rounds, some 2nd rounders and a 3rd-rounder.