Sportsnaut
The Bears have had an intense battle take place at the left tackle spot this summer. Braxton Jones is the incumbent starter, having played over 700 snaps at the position last year.
Jones didn’t provide elite production by any means, but he wasn’t terrible either. Pro Football Focus gave the tackle a 77.4 overall grade last year but pinned five sacks on him. Jones began this summer as the starter, but began to see fewer and fewer starter snaps as the offseason went on.
Lately, 2024 undrafted free agent Theo Benedet and 2025 second-round pick Ozzy Trapilo have take most of the first-team snaps at left tackle while Jones has been relegated to backup duties. If Jones can’t win the starter job, and the team feels comfortable with Maledet and Trapilo, could the veteran be moved?
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell recently proposed 10 trades that should happen before Week 1, and one of these trades was the Bears shipping Jones to the Rams. Barnwell’s trade looks like this:
Bears get: CB Derion Kendrick, 2026 sixth-round pick
Rams get: OT Braxton Jones
In this scenario, the Bears are able to add a cornerback in Kendrick and a future late-round pick. This would definitely be preferrable to cutting Jones for nothing, and the Bears could use some depth at corner after losing Terell Smith for the season.
Kendrick was originally a sixth-round pick of the Rams in the 2022 NFL Draft. As a rookie, Kendrick played in 15 games with six starts and collected 43 tackles and four pass deflections. In 2023, Kendrick started in 12 games and came away with 49 tackles, 10 pass deflections, and one interception.
Unfortunately, the Georgia product missed the entire 2024 season after tearing his ACL last summer. A change of scenery could work out for Kendrick and the Rams need a tackle more than they need a corner.
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