The Chicago Bears started the offseason with a trade for Ryan Bates. The team only gave up a fifth-round pick, but they have had eyes on Bates for years, so it is clear he is a part of the plan. With every player coming in, the players already on the roster are impacted. With the addition of Ryan Bates, which Bears are affected the most?
3. The Chicago Bears will not offer Teven Jenkins an extension this offseason
The Chicago Bears were going to have to make a tough decision on Teven Jenkins this offseason. Jenkins is entering his fourth season, so the former second-round pick will be a free agent after this year. Chicago has to decide to offer him an extension this year, or risk being in the Jaylon Johnson scenario again where you are up against a deadline with the chance of losing him in free agency.
For the Chicago Bears, the plan seems obvious. They cannot extend Jenkins. While Jenkins has shown to be a better-than-average center when he starts, he does not start enough. Jenkins played just two games as a rookie before making 11 starts in each of the last two years.
Jenkins has had neck, back, concussion, and calf injuries. More than that, Ryan Poles did not draft Jenkins and moved him from tackle to guard, and right to left. He has not settled on a spot and has not shown to be bought into the player.
Ryan Bates will likely serve as the backup to Teven Jenkins, but he may start five or six games in place of Jenkins. Bates is signed next year while Jenkins is not. If Bates is better or the difference is minor, it will tell Chicago all that they need to hear.
2. Do the Chicago Bears trust Nate Davis?
The Chicago Bears will have to trust Nate Davis to stick on the roster for the 2024 season. The free agent signing last year had a rough first season with the team, but his cap hit says that he will be back to start in 2024. However, the Bears cannot just throw him out there and assume everything is fine.
Davis had issues with his personal life, he had injuries, and his play was up and down. If they get the ups, this signing can still be worth it. The downs are why the team had to trade for Ryan Bates. Just like Teven Jenkins, Nate Davis has not played a full season in the past three years and has missed at least three games per year over that span.
The Titans let him walk last year after he missed too many practices for hardnosed coach Mike Vrabel. If Bates is making five or six starts for Teven Jenkins and three or four starts for Nate Davis, he is up to eight or nine starts next year. That is pretty significant.
Davis is signed in 2025, but his cap hit is much easier to move off of next year. Bates is the most likely of all three guards to be here in 2025. Both Davis and Jenkins will have a lot to prove this upcoming season.
1. Ja’Tyre Carter is not the Chicago Bears backup
The Chicago Bears leaned on Ja’Tyre Carter as a backup last year, and it appeared to have been too much. Carter was a former seventh-round pick, and after playing 31 snaps as a rookie, he jumped up to 175 snaps in 2023. That is because both Jenkins and Davis got hurt and missed too much time. Beyond that, Lucas Patrick and Cody Whitheiar had their injury issues.
Carter ended the year with 159 snaps at right guard and 11 at left guard. He made two starts. As he entered year three, he was in line to be the backup behind both Jenkins and Nate Davis. The Chicago Bears made sure that this did not happen.
Carter was not a disaster in that limited sample, but he also did not show enough to prove that he belonged as the backup. So, Carter will stay in his role and only play in an emergency situation.
In some ways, it is disappointing that they do not trust him more entering year three, but it also should not be shocking because he is just a seventh-round pick. Either way, his chance at a bigger role ended with the trade for Ryan Bates.