The Chicago Bears completely flipped the interior of their offensive line in the first week of the 2025 league year, investing significant money in the process.
Through two trades, the Bears acquired a new pair of starting guards in All-Pro Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson. They also signed veteran Drew Dalman to a three-year, $42 million contract, locking him in as their 2025 starting center.
Now, with no road back to Chicago, one of the Bears’ top offensive linemen from the past few seasons has found a new home with a rebuilding AFC team.
According to Fox Sports insider Jordan Schultz, the Cleveland Browns are signing former Bears guard and second-round pick Teven Jenkins to a new contract for the 2025 season, effectively ending his tenure with Chicago.
Jenkins started 36 games at guard for the Bears over the past three seasons, spending the 2022 season at right guard before moving to the left side in 2023. He also has a background as an offensive tackle, the position he played at Oklahoma and during his injury-shortened rookie season in Chicago in 2021.
While Jenkins has been arguably the Bears’ top offensive line in recent seasons, he has struggled to remain healthy. In 2024 alone, he missed three games due to injuries and played fewer than 20 offensive snaps in three more games.
Jenkins also missed 11 games in 2021, four games in 2022 and five games in 2023 — more than 33% of a possible 68 career games since entering the league.
In Cleveland, Jenkins will have a new opportunity to win a starting job, but the Browns also have returning veteran starters Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller and 2024 third-round pick Zak Zinter in the mix to compete with the former Bear.
With Jenkins’ exit, every player from the Bears’ 2021 draft class is now gone.
The Bears have just two drafted players left from Ryan Pace’s seven-year run as general manager: cornerback Jaylon Johnson and tight end Cole Kmet, both of whom signed extensions with the team that run through the 2027 season.
