What is Chicago Bears likely return in Teven Jenkins trade?

The Teven Jenkins situation has not gone well since the day that Ryan Poles stepped in as a General Manager of the Chicago Bears. Reports were that Poles was not high on Jenkins, and they appear to be confirmed by Jenkins being demoted to second-team and reports coming out that the Bears are entertaining trade offers.

Considering this is not a Poles pick, and he has not gotten off to a strong start with the new regime you can start to believe that he will be gone by the start of the season. The issue may be the return.

While some fans want to see a strong return for a player that the Bears took 39th overall, recent history shows that Jenkins is going to get traded for a small fraction of that capital.

Greg Little was drafted 37th overall in 2019. He started three games as a rookie, and then three games again in his second season. It is different because Little was traded after two full seasons, but Jenkins only started two games as a rookie and is on track to have a similar trajectory to Little in his second season.

Greg Little was traded for a 2022 7th round pick before the 2021 season.

Isaiah Wilson was a first-round pick by the Tennessee Titans. He did not get on the field as a rookie and was traded after one season. The amount of the trade resulted in a move up of 15 spots in the 7th round.

In this case, Wilson had a lot more off-of-the-field baggage which included more run-ins with the law than Jenkins is dealing with. Still, Wilson was a first-round pick after one season, and there are already reports that Jenkins has maturity issues, which will only hurt his return in a trade.

It is fair to say that Wilson had bigger issues in personality, and it is fair to say that Little had two full seasons to prove he was a bust, but both of these players were taken ahead of Jenkins in the draft slot, and both returned a seventh-round pick.

Most teams are going to point to two starts as a rookie, major back surgery, and maturity issues as they offer a sixth-round pick. At this point, that may end up being the best offer they get.