The Chicago Bears completely remade their offensive line in the 2025 NFL offseason, trading for right guard Jonah Jackson and left guard Joe Thuney while spending a good chunk of change on center Drew Dalman. The tackle spots are occupied by young guns Darnell Wright on the right side and Braxton Jones on the left.
The Bears aren't ready to just hand Jones the LT1 job after how up-and-down Caleb Williams' rookie season was. Chicago has used multiple top picks to improve their offensive line depth, including a 2024 third-rounder on Yale's Kiran Amegadjie and a 2025 second-rounder on Boston College's Ozzy Trapilo.
Trading Jones may be a more realistic future than some Bears fans would like to admit. If they decide to move on from a player who is still on his rookie contract, there may be a few teams out there with enough holes up front to tempt Chicago into making a move.
The Cleveland Browns may not be in a position to win a ton of games in the upcoming season, but no team would turn down the chance to bring in someone who could be an impactful left tackle. Why try to take advantage of a 2026 NFL Draft class that is not as deep on the offensive line as 2025 was?
This Bears trade sends former fifth-round pick Braxton Jones away
Jones is a Pro Football Focus darling who may have performed a bit better than the pressure and sack numbers may have indicated during Williams' rookie season. Still, the Bears wouldn't have used Top 100 picks on left tackles in consecutive NFL Drafts if they were all-in on Jones' potential.
While it might be a risk to start a second-round rookie like Trapilo if they move off Jones, Chicago may not have a choice if he keeps up what has been a very strong training camp performance and flexes his muscles in the preseason.
Cleveland, meanwhile, can dip into a cupboard of picks that was enhanced by the Travis Hunter trade to improve their suspect offensive line. Youngster Dawand Jones has been very up and down throughout his rookie season, and right tackle Jack Conklin is clearly on the back end of his career.
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Jones is in a perfect sweet spot when it comes to looking for a trade, as he is good enough to bring back adequate value but not so good that Chicago would be moving off a future starter.