Bears Predicted to Part Ways With $8.3 Million Starter After Season

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Bears general manager Ryan Poles.

With the Chicago Bears expected to rebuild the interior of their offensive line during the 2025 offseason, one insider believes the team is ready to let one of its mainstay starters — left guard Teven Jenkins — walk in free agency.

The Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs spoke at length about the challenges facing the Bears during the upcoming 2025 offseason during his December 23 appearance on 670 The Score and expressed doubt about Jenkins signing a contract extension with the Bears.

“I don’t believe they will be inclined to attempt to re-sign Teven Jenkins, who left yesterday’s game with a calf injury,” Biggs said Monday. “He’s been on the injury report with five different body parts this season. I think he needs a fresh start elsewhere.”

Jenkins — a 2021 second-round pick — has played in 45 games and made 38 starts for the Bears over his first four seasons in the league and has touted positional versatility, playing left tackle along with both guard spots for Chicago. Unfortunately, his health has raised serious questions about his long-term viability as a starter for the Bears.

As Biggs mentioned, Jenkins has spent time on the team’s injury report with thigh, ribs, ankle, knee and calf injuries throughout the 2024 season. While his injuries have only sidelined him for one full game, he has played 51% or fewer offensive snaps in four additional games. He is also currently on the Bears’ injury report for Week 17’s game.

“I think the best-case scenario for Teven might be a one-year prove-it deal, go out there and show you can get on the field and stay on the field,” Biggs said. “I just don’t know that’s the case, I’ve never seen an offensive lineman leave games with such regularity.”

Teven Jenkins’ Injury History Makes Decision Difficult

Jenkins’ injury issues have been a recurring theme for him since former Bears general manager Ryan Pace traded up and drafted him with the No. 39 pick in the 2021 draft.

As a rookie, Jenkins missed training camp and the first 11 games of his career with a back injury that required him to undergo surgery before the season. While he returned and played in six games late in the year, he struggled to play complete games despite two starts and finished with just 161 total offensive snaps played at the left tackle spot.

Jenkins then moved from tackle to guard when the Bears hired their new coaching staff in 2022, but he missed multiple practices again in training camp amid reports that the front office had been shopping him around in trade conversations. While Jenkins did return to the lineup and start 11 games at right guard, he sustained a neck injury near the end of the season and finished his second season on the injured reserve list.

Jenkins played his best football for the Bears in 2023, moving again from right guard to left guard before the season, but he still could not shake his injury problems. He sat out of the first four games with strains in both calves, then missed one more game later on.

In total, Jenkins has missed a little more than 30% of his career games with the Bears (21 of 68), putting the front office — one that did not draft him — in a difficult position that could leave them with little other choice but to let him sign elsewhere for 2025.

Could Bears Sign Teven Jenkins to ‘Prove-It Deal’ for 2025?

The logic for letting Jenkins walk is sound, but there is another possibility that does not involve the Bears signing him to a long-term contract extension for the 2025 season.

Perhaps, as Biggs suggested, Chicago could sign him to a one-year, “prove-it” contract.

Jenkins is arguably the Bears’ best offensive lineman when he is healthy enough to play. According to Pro Football Focus, he is the 18th-highest-graded guard (75.4) in the NFL through the first 16 weeks of the 2024 season and ranks within the top-25 — out of 129 eligible guards — as both a pass-blocker (75.8, 12th) and run-blocker (74.3, 21st).

The Bears could also have trouble finding three new starters for the interior of their line if they allow Jenkins to walk. They already need a new center and a new right guard for the 2025 season, and while free agency and the draft will offer solutions, it could prove too much of a risk with their focus on maximizing Caleb Williams’ second season.

Now, Jenkins has talked since the offseason about wanting to sign an extension with the Bears that will keep him with the franchise for the long-term future. But if he is open to a one-year arrangement and an opportunity to earn a larger payday from the team after the 2025 season, then the Bears may feel bringing him back on a one-year deal is the best move for their franchise — especially if they draft a replacement who needs time.