Expectations are growing that one of the Chicago Bears‘ recent Day 2 draft picks could be on his last legs with the team when training camp opens next week.
Kiran Amegadjie — a 2024 third-rounder — is one of several offensive tackles who will be in the mix for the Bears’ starting left tackle job in the coming weeks, but he also faces the steepest odds to win the role after failing to make much out of his first two seasons.
While starter Ozzy Trapilo is likely to spend most of the 2026 season recovering from the knee injury that he sustained in January, the Bears added a pair of veterans with starting experience when they brought back Braxton Jones and signed Jedrick Wills Jr.
The Bears are also returning third-year tackle Theo Benedet to the equation, creating a situation in which Amegadjie may find himself on the outside looking in on the 53-man roster — as ESPN’s Courtney Cronin projected in her July 23 training camp preview.
“Trapilo will likely start the season on the PUP list, so that frees up a roster spot,” Cronin wrote Thursday. “Braxton Jones has the inside track to win the left tackle job in a competition that also features Wills and Kiran Amegadjie.
“The Bears don’t need to keep all three tackles when Benedet seems primed to be Chicago’s swing tackle, so the final spot on the initial 53-man roster goes to [Caden] Barnett, the interior lineman who the Bears gave $277,500 in guaranteed money on his UDFA contract.”
Kiran Amegadjie Played Zero Snaps for Bears in 2025
Amegadjie is entering a critical stretch of his young career, now two years into his $5.9 million rookie contract, but he has extremely limited playing experience to show for it.
The Bears knew Amegadjie would take some time to get rolling when they drafted him out of Yale with the 75th overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. He had sustained a major quadriceps injury in October 2023 during his final collegiate season, and the recovery kept him from even getting on the practice field for the Bears until late August of 2024.
Once Amegadjie got on the field, though, the results were far from impressive.
In six games as a rookie, Amegadjie allowed one sack, seven hurries and eight pressures and committed five penalties on just 67 total pass-blocking snaps. He was also throttled in his first career start at left tackle in Week 15 against the Minnesota Vikings, falling victim to the pass-rushing prowess of star Jonathan Greenard to his team’s detriment.
Since then, Amegadjie has not touched the field for the Bears in the regular season.
The Bears tried to move him inside to compete with the guards during his second camp in 2025, satisfied with Darnell Wright, Jones, Trapilo and Benedet as their four tackles. But while he won a depth spot with the guards heading into the season, he played zero snaps before injuring his elbow ahead of Week 3 and landing on the injured reserve list.
Maybe Amegadjie can crack the roster again with the guards in 2026 instead of letting his future with the Bears hinge on how he performs in the left tackle battle, but time is running out for him to make things last in Chicago.
UDFA Caden Barnett Also Projected to Make Roster
Cronin didn’t just leave Amegadjie off her initial projection for Chicago’s 53-man roster; she also had an undrafted rookie — Caden Barnett — best him for the final guard spot.
Barnett has generated some buzz since signing with the Bears as a UDFA following the 2026 NFL draft in April. Not only did he sign a rookie deal that came with $277,500 in guaranteed money, as Cronin noted, but he has also caught attention from national analysts as one of the sleeper UDFAs around the league who could win a roster spot.
The reasons for excitement are understandable. The 6-foot-4, 316-pound Barnett is an impressive athlete who started three seasons at Wyoming and possesses the ideal traits to have success in a zone-heavy scheme like Ben Johnson’s in Chicago. He also started games in college at both tackle and guard, giving him a desirable amount of versatility.
Barnett will still need to have a strong camp with the Bears to have a shot at making the 53-man roster behind starters Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson, but he currently seems to have a better chance of breaking through than the struggling Amegadjie.
Bears Projected to Cut Ties With $5.9 Million Draft Bust During Camp