Bears Shouldn’t Let Teven Jenkins Stroll (Or Limp) Out The Door

No explicit particular person personifies the angst over the Bears’ offensive line greater than Teven Jenkins. His drawback staying on the sector makes it straightforward to suppose Ryan Poles ought to simply let him stroll away as a free agent, notably if the opposite choice is giving him $10 million per you to hope he stays healthful.

Nonetheless possibly the Bears should discover a method to be ingenious and cling onto Jenkins for on the very least a yr or two, crossing their fingers he can keep on the sector subsequent season.

A method or one totally different, rebuilding the offensive line defending Caleb Williams is the quick precedence for Poles and head coach Ben Johnson. The one truly acknowledged amount is true address Darnell Wright, given the left address Braxton Jones’ ongoing restoration from a damaged left ankle. The inside of the freeway, which was patched collectively in 2024, is anyone’s guess.

Jenkins, Wright and Jones have been the best devices of the freeway that Expert Soccer Focus ranked twenty fourth after being blamed for 37 of Williams’ 68 sacks. Jenkins was ranked thirteenth amongst 77 qualifying guards by PFF, making it three years in a row he’s been above the 14 most attention-grabbing in PFF grading.

When the Bears carried out the Saints in Week 9 of 2023, Jenkins turned in a 91.1 PFF rating, the best of the week by NFL linemen. He was virtually nearly almost pretty much as good within the route of the Commanders in Week 8 final season, permitting no pressures (or sacks).

The issue with Jenkins isn’t the standard of his work; it’s the quantity. He carried out solely 37 of the Bears’ 60 offensive snaps in that Washington recreation and completed the season having carried out 738 whole snaps, which ranked fifty fifth amongst guards. He was 52nd in 2023 with 731 snaps.

Jenkins has had just one surgical course of with the Bears. Nonetheless that when extra surgical course of wrecked his rookie season and has led to his repute for being fragile. He’s missed 15 of 51 video video video games the final word three seasons with quite a lot of seemingly unrelated accidents — a neck harm in 2022, which triggered his to be stretched off the sector; a concussion in ’23, and rib, ankle and calf accidents in 24.

The Bears seemingly would have signed Jenkins to a large contract extension by this diploma had he been additional healthful. He talked about at one diploma the sides have been anticipated to speak contract in the midst of the Week 7 bye nonetheless, throughout the event that they occurred, these talks went nowhere. The Bears have been centered on his quick availability, not the long run, after he left one October recreation with a rib harm and one totally different with an ankle harm.

It’s unlikely the Bears medical employees goes to endorse an infinite funding in Jenkins. Nonetheless given the issue of growing an offensive line, Poles and Johnson might wish to ponder a restricted hazard on Jenkins. He might very properly be an enormous depth piece even when Poles lands three inside linemen by free agency and the draft.

Spotrac calls Jenkins’ market value as $31 million over three years. Nonetheless he heads into free agency figuring out his harm historic earlier will possibly be as a variety of a difficulty to completely totally different groups as a result of it is to the Bears. Poles’ roster is in the interim $65.9 million beneath the wage cap (fifth most attention-grabbing contained in the NFL) and that whole will most actually develop to $75 million as shortly as he releases fairly a couple of veterans (these candidates embody Gerald Everett and Ryan Bates).

Jenkins may very well actually really feel he has to confirm the market. He’s earned the precise. Nonetheless he’s talked about he desires to remain in Chicago. Presumably there’s a method to work out a ingenious contract that retains him. Jenkins has been an asset, not a obligation.