Getty Head coach Matt Eberflus and the Chicago Bears are still being encouraged to trade Teven Jenkins.
The Teven Jenkins trade rumors just won’t quit.
The second-year offensive lineman for the Chicago Bears has gone from third-string tackle to the team’s starting right guard in a matter of months, and through it all, he dealt with whispers around the league that he’d be traded. In August, the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo reported that Chicago had gotten trade inquiries from other teams about Jenkins, but general manager Ryan Poles has denied wanting to trade him.
The interest from other teams was there, however. In a September 1 appearance on the Hoge and Jahns podcast, Poles confirmed other teams had called him wanting to add Jenkins via trade, but says he never tried to shop the 2021 second-rounder.
That hasn’t stopped some analysts from urging the Bears to still trade the young O-Lineman.
Poles Says He Rebuffed Other Teams Interested in Trading for Jenkins
“It actually kind of blew my mind a little bit,” Poles told hosts Adam Hoge and Adam Jahns about the Jenkins trade rumors. “All of a sudden, there’s, like, trade rumors floating around, and I hadn’t called anybody.”
His phone was ringing, though.
“What happens in the league is people call you because there’s rumors floating around, like, ‘What are you doing?’ And I’m like, ‘Evaluating Teven. We’re seeing how he does.’ So his move to tackle to guard, he’s doing a good job and we’re happy about it,” Poles added.
Jenkins has been performing well since moving over to right guard in the preseason, and he alternated offensive series’ last week with veteran Lucas Patrick. In 31 snaps against the San Francisco 49ers Week 1, Jenkins surrendered just one pressure, earning an impressive overall grade of 77.9 from Pro Football Focus.
Poles and company aren’t going to part ways with a potential franchise option like Jenkins, but what if a contending team made a push for the athletic 24-year-old?
Arizona Cardinals Pitched as Potential Trade Partner for Jenkins
David Kenyon of Bleacher Report still thinks the Bears should try to shop Jenkins, and he named the Arizona Cardinals as the perfect trade partner.
“Between his Week 1 workload and admirable play, Teven Jenkins suddenly has an opportunity to stay with the Chicago Bears,” Kenyon acknowledged in his September 17 column, before suggesting the young O-Lineman might be in trouble if the quality if his play drops.
“If his performance dips, though, it’s already clear that Jenkins’ options are limited in Chicago. Free-agent addition Lucas Patrick would be there to take his place,” Kenyon added.
Kenyon seems to forget that Patrick was brought to Chicago to be the team’s starting center, and that the Bears were likely getting him acclimated to the game again after he missed the entire preseason with a hand injury. Patrick isn’t going to take Jenkins’ spot at RG unless catastrophe strikes — but Kenyon thinks a team like the Cardinals would be a perfect fit for Jenkins.
“The Arizona Cardinals had a terrible opener,” Kenyon wrote. “They surrendered 27 pressures to the Kansas City Chiefs and gained just 282 yards in the 44-21 loss. Jenkins played in a similar type of offense at Oklahoma State, so a return to a more familiar system could be a spark for his young career.”
The trouble with Kenyon’s trade proposal? Not only doesn’t he state what he thinks the Bears could get in return for Jenkins, he doesn’t seem to understand that Jenkins is already sparking his young career — blocking for Justin Fields in Chicago.
Perhaps after a few more weeks of solid play at RG, the rumors will stop.