Bear Digest

Finding Bears Top Free Agent Options on the Offensive Line

Offensive line positions could be among the best available in free agency for the Bears according to Pro Football Focus' list of the top 50 coming into the market.

Gene Chamberlain

Finding someone to replace Teven Jenkins and Coleman Shelton could be on the Bears' agenda for the offseason in free agency.
Finding someone to replace Teven Jenkins and Coleman Shelton could be on the Bears' agenda for the offseason in free agency. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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Seeing the Bears defense come together again to shut down Seattle in their home finale is the kind of positive the team has needed ever since the Matt Eberflus firing came down.

Only Buffalo, Arizona and Green Bay held the Seahawks to less than 20 ponts and no one else held them to single figures like the Bears did.

"That's just the standard that we have for ourselves," safety Kevin Byard said. "At the end of the day we're trying to win ballgames."

Not that it matters in the standings, but it's a sign they could have a more rapid reboot under a new coach rather than going through another elongated and painful, losing process during yet another complete rebuild.


If they have the right coaching group with this defensive lineup, only minor tweaking needs to occur on that side of the ball.

Adding a pass rusher or extra defensive tackle would help. Zacch Pickens being a healthy scratch on Thursday night was an obvious sign what they feel about his progress, or lack thereof. Quality safety depth is a real need due to Jaquan Brisker's concussion issues, but the Bears most often have relied on the draft for top defensive help.

However, on the offensive side their line requires a complete makeover with two to four new starters. Building their entire line up is always something the Bears seem to talk about but never accomplish.

They could get by with two or three if they agree with what Pro Football Focus has been saying, and that is Braxton Jones has had a very good third year. He is graded 20th out of 135 tackles Pro Football Focus has graded.

A pair of guards and a center might be the real needs. Coleman Shelton is graded 15th among starting centers, which isn't bad. However, they could definitely do better. Matt Pryor is a backup being used as a starter at right guard.

If the Bears took into account only grades, they wouldn't need to replace Teven Jenkins, but signing someone to a long-term contract with his injury history is entirely irresponsible. Only if Jenkins goes into free agency and finds few takers should they make him a priority. He's an excellent player who repeatedly turns up injured.

The good news for the Bears is they are not totally dependent upon the draft to fix the interior of their offensive line this year. Developing offensive linemen in the NFL requires time and they really do need to start winning games.

Finishing last in the NFC North or tied for it in seven of the last 11 seasons is reason enough for needing a rapid reboot. The chants of "sell the team, sell the team" at Thursday's game is the other one. The McCaskey family will not want to endure more of that.

Free agency is regarded as the best quick fix for many of their ills and the offensive line is where they should be able to find a few high-quality blockers to protect Caleb Williams, although the tackle market looks deeper than guard/center.

The Bears will have the sixth-most effective cap space available with $61.98 million, according to Overthecap.com.

PFF has released its top 50 free agents for 2025 and the offensive line is an area where there could be finds available, but not necessarily in abundance on the interior of the line where their big problems exist.

Remember, too, quite often the names on their list vanish well in advance of free agency as their existing teams make a contract extension for the better players a priority. For instance, Jacksonville just signed tackle Walker Little to a three-year, $45 million extension.

Here's what the Bears could find out there among better free agents, according to PFF grade. More extensive lists become available when the regular season has ended, and approaching the start of free agency. It all begins a bit earlier this year with the legal tampering period on March 10.

Interior Line

G Trey Smith, Chiefs

Easily the best available offensive lineman in free agency and only 25 years old. It wouldn't be shocking for the Chiefs to cut some other players in order to keep him, though. Originally a sixth-rounder who PFF grades as 11th best starting guard this season and 23rd as a pass blocker. The 6-foot-6, 321-pounder is graded four spots ahead of Jenkins and has missed only one game as a pro. He has been playing right guard and not left guard, where Jenkins plays. Spotrac.com estimates his market value at $19.3 million a year.

C Drew Dalman, Falcons

Last year he made the PFF All-Improved team. At 6-3, 300, he might be a bit heavier than Shelton, who is listed at only 285 by the Bears but was at 299 with the Rams. Dalman might be a slightly better version of Shelton. He had a pass-blocking grade only 39th among 61 centers PFF looked at, but was fifth overall based on his sixth ranking as a run blocker. He's only 26.

G Will Fries, Colts

This is a player who performed like many offensive linemen do. It took him time to develop but this year PFF grades him fourth best guard in the league out of 129 they looked at, and 17th best of the 129 in blocking, fifth in run blocking. So, he's been solid across the board. The Colts already had a $25 million cap hit this year for their other guard, Quenton Nelson, and he's under contract through 2026. Spending huge chunks of cap space for two guards is highly unlikely. They do have an out in Quenton's contract after this year at $12.4 million dead cap, according to Spotrac.com. It would seem unlikely they would dump Quenton and eat that space just to keep Fries.

G Kevin Zeitler, Lions

Here's where the big drop off happens in guard quality. Although Zeitler is having an outstanding season and has been good, he is a 6-4, 340-pound guard who is 34 years old. That's not something the Bears would be likely to look at but if they did he would be a player who could come in and start immediately while a younger guard was being brought along. Either way, he doesn't figure as a big expenditure since this year's cap hit is $5.9 million and he'll be 35 next year.

G James Daniels, Steelers

Oh yeah, remember him. One of the top guards in the league over the last season. It would seem unlikely Ryan Poles would be looking at Daniels because he was allowed to walk in free agency when Poles took over the Bears personnel operation. However, the cap space dictated that more than anything else. Daniels' problem is he tore an Achilles this year and is already at an $11.2 million cap hit according to Spotrac.com. The Bears and many teams would be unlikely to pursue a guard who gets that much money and suffered a devastating injury of this sort. Daniels did have the injury in the fourth game so he'll have had a lot of recovery time, but Achilles injuries are tricky and can sometimes require a full year to get back.

Mekhi Becton, Eagles

A real road grader type who would need to be a system fit at 6-7, 363. He has had an outstanding overall year according to PFF, grading at 15th out of 129 guards and 17th as a run blocker. Only 25, he could command some big money but a team using the wide zone scheme might be reluctant to consider him. It might take a gap scheme team. What the Bears will be next year is up to whoever the coordinator/coach might be. At only 25, Becton would be ideal for many teams. He signed a one-year deal for $5.5 million, betting on himself as he left the Jets and apparently will win the bet.

Tackle

Ronnie Stanley, Ravens

A team looking for and immediate and drastic tackle upgrade might be turning to Stanley, who has been graded the eighth best free agent available overall by PRF. However, he's 30 now and it might chase away some of the interest. Stanley is graded 40th best tackle by PFF out of 135 they graded, and 25th among pass blockers. He's only given up two sacks this year and allowed 34 pressures, according to PFF numbers.

Cam Robinson, Vikings

The Vikings' 6-6, 335-pound rental answer to losing Christian Darrisaw has proven he is worth someone signing as a starter for 2025 but hasn't necessarily been an effective run blocker, ranking 85th among 135 tackles PFF graded in this area. Darrisaw might have been the best tackle in the league over the last two years before his ACL injury and the Vikings aren't keeping Robinson around. PFF calls him the 17th best free agent at any position who will be available. He's already in at $17.7 million in cap space for a 2024 level. It's easy to see how he'll be an expensive option.

Tyron Smith, Jets

The longtime Dallas tackle has a low cap cost of $6.5 million this year and is 34 years old, so he'd be regarded as more of a stop-gap type at his age. The issue you'd expect from an older offensive lineman is health and he currently is on IR with a neck injury. However, before getting hurt he was grading well despite his age at 30th among 135 tackles overall and 43rd as a pass blocker.

Alaric Jackson, Rams

He started last year for the first time and came into his own as a 6-7, 345-pound undrafted player. He signed a $4.9 million restricted free agent tender to stay with the Rams for this season and they found a left tackle for their future if they can pay him now as he's graded 15th overall among 135 tackles, 22nd as a pass blocker and 15th as a run blocker. It could be a big pay day for Jackson.

Dan Moore, Steelers

He's not among the elite tackles, grading 44th among 135 according to PFF. Moore is a left tackle and has 10 sacks allowed this year. The 6-5, 315-pounder has made a dramatic climb up the board in grade, though, even if he is 44th. He hadn't been higher than 77th in his first three seasons. This could be a player a tema brings in who is starting to come into his own, or it could be a bit of a gamble considering the importance of the position.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.