With a little extra room, the Chicago Bears must bring in a new left tackle
Whatever move(s) Ryan Pace decides to do in order to free up some room in the salary cap, the next move is to sign a veteran who can play left tackle this year. My very first choice and one I have mentioned over and over again is Russell Okung. Okung can come in and play left tackle this season, allowing Jenkins time to heal and acclimate to the NFL. If Jenkins proves healthy enough, then Matt Nagy can put him at right tackle. This position was where I envisioned him anyway.
Okung is not going to come cheap though. Plus he wants to be paid in cryptocurrency. If I am Ryan Pace though, Okung is easily the best decision to make. He was not as efficient last year, but he has a career 80.9 Pro Football Focus (PFF) grade and still have plenty in the tank.
If Okung is not willing to come here, the other options include Mitchell Schwartz (if healthy), Jason Peters (although 39), Ricky Wagner or Demar Dotson. Schwartz Dotson and Wagner are all right tackles in my opinion, but any of the three would be better options than Elijah Wilkinson who has been getting manhandled in training camp. Jason Peters actually played well last year at the age of 38, could he do it again at nearly 40?
The point here is that this team needs help at offensive tackle more than inside linebacker. Let’s not worry about signing guys like Alec Ogletree when the offensive line is giving up a sack nearly every play of training camp.