Bears left tackle
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JANUARY 10: Ozzy Trapilo #75 of the Chicago Bears leaves the field against the Green Bay Packers during the fourth quarter in the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at Soldier Field on January 10, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
There’s no denying that the Chicago Bears have a huge problem to address at left tackle.
With Ozzy Trapilo going down with a patellar tendon injury, general manager Ryan Poles commented on his rehab, saying, “Really unfortunate because I thought he was coming along and was looking forward to him in this offseason. I don’t have a specific timetable. I’m sure it’ll be something deep into next year for the injury. Had a good conversation with him. He knows this is part of his journey that he’s gonna have to overcome. I got a lot of faith in him and our staff to get him back ready to go, whenever that is.”
Now that Trapilo is out of the picture for next season, the Bears need to find a stopgap at left tackle; however, according to Bears’ offensive line coach Dan Roushar, they don’t have the solution on the roster right now.
Dan Roushar Gets Brutally Honest on Left Tackle Dilemma
Roushar joined former five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Terron Armstead on his show, The Set, and gave his brutally honest take on the situation at left tackle in Chicago.
“I’m transparent. I met with all three guys that played left tackle for us this past year, to include Theo Benedet, an undrafted young man from Canada. I told all three of them this. ‘I know what the left tackle position looks like in this league. You are the standard. That’s a rare player that comes along. But somebody has to play that position similar to that.’ It’s a faceless, nameless guy right now. It has to become the way we played the game at left tackle similar to what’s being done at right tackle. Is that player in the building? I think there’s guys that have traits, but not consistent enough the way we want it done consistently. So that’s to be determined.”
To make it simple, the Bears feel iffy about what they currently have at left tackle.
Braxton Jones is an impending free agent, so he’s likely heading elsewhere. It sounds like Benedet will be the team’s swing tackle, and former third-round pick Kiran Amegadjie will likely be cut.
Roushar Maps Out the Plan
Roushar continued on his assessment of the left tackle position, noting there are avenues the team can take to address the problem.
“You can address that in free agency. You can address that in the draft. But to find your play or Darnell’s play, that requires, in my opinion, it takes probably draft capital or asset we currently don’t have. It’s probably most likely through free agency or it’s here in the building.”
Roushar did end with saying he’ll most likely have to work with the guys that are already in the building, but his previous statements seem to point to the Bears’ hoping they can find a solution that’s not currently on the roster right now.
Chicago, according to OvertheCap.com, has negative $4.1 million in available cap room. Signing a good left tackle in free agency would be extremely expensive, and the Bears already used a high-round pick in the last draft for Trapilo.
With bigger needs elsewhere on the roster, specifically on defense, the Bears’ best bet would be signing a tackle on a cheap one-year deal to compete with Benedet for the starting spot and hope Trapilo returns to full form sooner than expected.