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The Chicago Bears are trading to acquire some veteran depth for the interior of their offensive line with starter Teven Jenkins set to miss the start of 2023.
According to ESPN’s Courtney Cronin, the Bears are sending a 2024 sixth-round pick to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for 29-year-old interior lineman Dan Feeney in a move that comes less than 24 hours before the NFL’s 53-man roster deadline on August 29.
Feeney, a 2017 third-round pick, has played in 96 games with 64 starts over his first six seasons in the league and adds an element of guard/center versatility to the middle of the Bears’ offensive line. He is also coming off an impressive preseason for Miami in which he logged snaps at all three interior line spots and allowed just a single pressure.
The Dolphins had signed Feeney to a one-year, $3.25 million contract back in March, but the guarantees ensure that a little more than $2 million will remain on Miami’s books for the 2023 season while Chicago will take on the remaining $1.205 million. In other words, the Bears are gaining a seasoned backup center and guard for slightly more than the veteran minimum and a Day 3 pick in next year’s NFL draft.
The Bears will need to make their remaining 53-man roster decisions before 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, August 29, but could be reworking things over the next few days if they opt to place Jenkins on injured reserve (minimum of four games out) after the deadline.
Dan Feeney Adds Depth, But Comes With Questions
Feeney is an intriguing addition to the Bears for a number of reasons. On the positive side, he has logged 4,160 combined snaps of offense over his first six seasons and spent the majority of his time (2,596 snaps) at the left guard spot, where they will most likely seek to play him while Jenkins is out of the rotation. He can handle center duties, too, if Whitehair — who has a snapping hand injury — is forced to stay at guard while he heals.
There is also the hometown connection that Bears general manager Ryan Poles has emphasized is valuable to him when making personnel decisions. He grew up in the southwest Chicago suburb of Orland Park, attending Carl Sandburg High School. He is now the sixth Chicagoland native on their roster, which also includes T.J. Edwards, Cole Kmet, Doug Kramer, Jack Sanborn and Robert Tonyan Jr.
A deeper dive into Feeney’s performances as an interior lineman over the past six seasons raises a few questions about how effective can be for the Bears, though.
According to Pro Football Focus, Feeney struggled as both a pass-blocker and run-blocker during his three seasons as a full-time starter for the Los Angeles Chargers from 2018 to 2020, giving up a combined 19 sacks and 122 pressures on the interior. He also graded out as one of the worst offensive line in the NFL in 2020, the year in which he was asked to be the Chargers’ starting center before they added Corey Linsley in 2021.
Feeney has also struggled to earn a meaningful role in either of his previous two stops with teams who touted two of the worst offensive line units in the league. In 2022 with the New York Jets, he made two starts but played just four games on offense, allowing one sack and three pressures and committing three penalties over 109 offensive snaps. Meanwhile, the Dolphins could have used him as a backup behind Liam Eichenberg in 2023 but opted to trade him away instead while eating a large chunk of dead money.
Bears’ Interior Offensive Line Remains Banged Up
The Bears needed more interior line depth after Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune reported on August 20 that Jenkins — their starting left guard — was expected to miss the start of the season with calf strains in both of his legs. While the Bears have not given a specific timeline for Jenkins’ return, Biggs suggested it could sideline him for six weeks — which could cost him as many as the first four games of the regular season.
The Bears have also been without starting center Cody Whitehair, starting right guard Nate Davis and backup interior lineman Lucas Patrick in recent weeks due to injuries. Jason Lieser of The Chicago Sun-Times indicated in his report about the Feeney trade that the Bears consider all three injuries to be “minor” and are not overly concerned that any of them will miss the season opener against Green Bay on September 10, but it does disturb Chicago’s ability to establish cohesiveness with their starting unit.
Feeney will now have a chance to help alleviate some of the depth issues for the Bears, but where he will play could depend entirely on where the holes exist in Week 1.
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