Let’s continue our look at the Ten Chicago Bears with the most to prove. So far, we’ve unveiled Tory Taylor at number 10. You can check out his article here.
Number nine on the list is left tackle Braxton Jones.
Jones made the list last year, although we cheated. We called “left tackle” as one individual player because we felt that Jones, Kiran Amegadjie, and Ozzy Trapilo should all be on the list, and having three tackles on a top-ten list is absurd if they are on there separately.
Amegadjie did not
step up and seems to be seeing his opportunity with Chicago slip away. Trapilo struggled early but earned the spot later in the season. Jones earned the job (almost by default) out of training camp, but was replaced by Theo Benedet just a few weeks into the season.
Trapilo, as we all know, suffered that knee injury in the playoffs last season, and his availability this season is up in the air. There have been reports that he could be back as early as October. There have also been reports that he could miss the season. It’s simply anyone’s guess at this point when Trapilo can get back from the injury and be healthy enough to play on Sundays.
The Bears were up against the Cap this year and chose not to push money into the future, which means they didn’t have the cash to go out and spend at LT for a legitimate free agent starter. The Bears could have used an early draft pick on a left tackle as well, but they chose a different path: bring back Braxton Jones on an affordable contract.
After Jones was benched during the Raiders game, he played the next two games on special teams but did not play any offensive snaps. He was placed on IR after that and didn’t play again. Although Jones fell out of favor with the coaching staff, it was a mild surprise that the team brought him back, but the options were truly limited.
Jones played well his first three seasons, especially when you consider that Ryan Poles grabbed him in the draft with a fifth-round pick. Rarely do you see success stories at Jones’ level with day three offensive tackles, but Jones started as a rookie and kept that starting position for each of his first three seasons.
Something seemed off with Jones all last year. He was returning from an injury late in 2024, and perhaps that was the reason why he didn’t look like the same player, or perhaps he didn’t mesh with Dan Roushar and the coaching staff, or maybe the scheme doesn’t play to his strengths.
Could it be that Jones struggled due to lingering issues from his ankle injury? That is certainly the hope. If Jones plays as he did in September of 2025, that performance simply won’t be good enough in Ben Johnson’s offense. Turning to Benedet isn’t really an option either. While Benedet’s run blocking was strong, his pass blocking was not, and it really shouldn’t be a surprise that Caleb’s passing game really took off when Trapilo started playing, and the Bears’ pass protection improved on the left side.
If Jones plays as he did from 2022 to 2024, the Bears will have a reliable left tackle on their hands at an extremely affordable price. The Bears won’t have to rush Trapilo back, can keep Jones on the field, and after this season, Jones can go get paid by another team while the Bears can prepare to have Trapilo back in the mix in 2027.
If Jones struggles and Trapilo can’t play for most or all of the season, the Bears have very few options at left tackle. They can turn to Jedrick Wills, who is looking to recover from a significant injury and surgery that kept him out of football last season; they can go back to Benedet, or they can bump Joe Thuney out to LT again as they did against the Rams in the playoffs.
Jones is this far down on the list because he’s on a one-year deal and almost certainly won’t be back in 2027, but you could argue Jones should be much higher on the list because if he doesn’t step up this season, the Bears’ offensive line could be in significant trouble.
