It took a little time during the just-completed season, but the Chicago Bears have seemingly found their long-term answer at left tackle with the emergence of Ozzie Trapilo.
Late in the Wild Card Round win over the Green Bay Packers, Trapilo suffered a ruptured patellar tendon. He is in line to miss a significant portion of next season, and left tackle has suddenly taken a prominent spot on the list of offseason needs for the Bears.
With that, and a shorter-term solution more obviously in mind unless Trapilo's recovery takes a particularly dark turn, free agency is the most likely path to a left tackle addition for the Bears this offseason.
It's also fair to say the list of free agent options at left tackle, as expected given the importance of the position and teams not letting good ones hit the market, isn't all that exciting.
Bears offered free agent left tackle option they should easily leave alone
Greg Auman of Fox Sports is out with a ranking of the top 100 2026 NFL Free Agents, with potential team fits for many of them.
At No. 85 is offensive tackle Cam Robinson.
"Robinson, 30, has played for four teams in the last two seasons, and was twice traded before finishing 2025 in Cleveland. He's gone from franchise tags to a $12 million contract last year, and he'll likely take less than that as he searches for some stability. He has 114 career starts, and that kind of experience makes him a known commodity, which is valuable at tackle. Could the Bears, with injury concerns for at least the start of 2026, be a good match?"
As Auman noted, Robinson has become well-traveled the last couple seasons, traded twice and playing for a total of four teams. Having 114 career starts is nothing to sneeze at, and it's true that experience/being a known commodity gives an offensive lineman, perhaps especially an offensive tackle, a level of inherent and assumed value.
For much of his career, Robinson has sustained the performance level of a just above-average left tackle. But this past season, spent mostly with the Cleveland Browns, his overall Pro Football Focus grade was 83rd out of 89 qualified offensive tackles, with 14 penalties. Over the last two seasons, according to PFF, he has drawn 27 penalties. Even allowing for the persistent change he has had, learning a new offense, new teammates, etc. that's a lot of flags over the last couple seasons.
If the Bears want an experienced option at left tackle, and they surely do, re-signing Braxton Jones looks to be among the better options. While this past season was not ideal for him from a health or performance standpoint, he posted a better PFF grade in each of his first three seasons than Robinson ever has in any of his nine seasons. The eye test, based on 2022-2024, would also say Jones is the better player.
Robinson is someone the Bears could consider to fill what they hope is a short-term void at left tackle. But coming off what's clearly the worst season of his career by some measures, and with an up close view of him in Week 15 when they played the Browns, it's also possible he has already been scratched from that list of potential options.