HEADLINES

Kiran Amegadjie

Theo Benedet Enters Bears’ LT Competition

August 15th, 2025 at 8:44pm CST by Adam La Rose

One of the Bears’ top training camp battles has come at the left tackle spot. The competition is ongoing, and a fourth contender appears to have emerged.

[RELATED: Recapping Bears’ Offseason]

Theo Benedet has seen time with the starting offense during three practices this week, as detailed by ESPN’s Courtney Cronin. The 2024 undrafted free agent spent last season on Chicago’s practice squad, but with the left tackle competition being labeled wide open by new head coach Ben Johnson, opportunities have presented themselves recently. Benedet worked at left and right tackle during the Bears’ preseason opener.

“He’s right in the middle of it,” Johnson said. “I’ve been very, very excited about Theo and what he’s done both on the right and the left side. He was probably overlooked to start this competition, but the longer this thing’s gone on, there’s a strong argument for what he’s put on tape.”

Benedet entered the NFL after playing collegiately in Canada. The University of British Columbia product has yet to play a regular season snap, so it would certainly come as a surprise if he were to land the Week 1 job. Still, the fact that Benedet, 23, has inserted himself into the conversation is noteworthy. Incumbent Braxton Jones recently received full medical clearance and he has also seen time with the starters up front during camp.

Second-round rookie Ozzy Trapilo has worked at both tackle spots this summer. The Boston College alum primarily operated as a right tackle in college, but he could find himself on the blindside depending on how the coming weeks play out. 2024 third-rounder Kiran Amegadjie has been in the mix, although he found himself with the third-team offense on Wednesday (h/t Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune). The Yale product has missed considerable time this summer with a leg injury, hindering his chances of winning the starting gig. Johnson aims to have a clear-cut winner in place soon, and the upcoming preseason game could prove to be telling.

“We’ll go as long as we need to go to find the right guy,” Johnson said (via Cronen). “But we’d like to see someone go ahead and make it clear to us that he is that guy and we just haven’t seen that yet as a staff. There’s been too much up and down.”

Each of the candidates for the left tackle gig could see action on Sunday against the Bills. It will be interesting to see how Benedet in particular fares as the Bears seek out clarity regarding the overall depth chart up front.

Braxton Jones Receives Clearance; Bears Holding LT Competition

July 23rd, 2025 at 1:32pm CST by Sam Robinson

Braxton Jones made a quick leap from Division I-FCS blocker to starting NFL left tackle as a rookie, moving into the Bears’ starting lineup despite being a 2022 fifth-round pick. As Jones prepares for a contract year, however, the situation has changed.

The Bears have seen their three-year LT starter receive clearance, according to the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs. Although Jones will need a ramp-up period as he wraps up his return from ankle surgery, he avoided the active/PUP list to open training camp. That is significant, but the Bears are not planning to give him the blindside gig without competition this year.

Kiran Amegadjie and Ozzy Trapilo, respectively chosen on Day 2 of the past two drafts, are competing with Jones for the LT post, ESPN’s Courtney Cronin notes. Ben Johnson referred to Jones’ experience making him the frontrunner, but the new HC referred to this as a true competition. That differs from how Chicago has proceeded at LT over the previous two summers.

Jones, 26, has started all 40 games he has played as a pro. This included 17 during the Bears’ woeful 2022 season. Over the past two years, though, the Southern Utah product has missed a combined 11 games. This included five due to knee and ankle injuries last season.

The fractured ankle Jones sustained in December defined his offseason, as he was a nonparticipant and rumored to be destined for the active/PUP list come training camp. Jones will at least have a better chance to stake his claim to keep the blindside job now that he has avoided it, but the new Bears staff will greenlight a challenge after the two abbreviated seasons.

Trapilo probably represents the bigger threat here, seeing as he is a second-round pick chosen on Johnson’s watch. Other than Darnell Wright, Trapilo is the Bears’ highest-drafted tackle (No. 56 overall) since Gabe Carimi (Round 1, 2011). Technically, Teven Jenkins (No. 39, 2021) was a tackle draftee; but he spent three years at guard in Chicago. The Bears appear prepared to, at the very least, groom the 6-foot-8 Trapilo for long-term LT duty.

Trapilo took first-team reps with the Bears’ first-stringers during team periods in their first camp workout, per Cronin. With Jones needing a bit of time to reacclimate, this does not seem to indicate Trapilo has an early lead. But it would point to the new staff having a slightly higher opinion of him than Amegadjie, chosen in Round 3 during Matt Eberflus‘ truncated final year on the job. The Yale alum missed a chunk of his rookie season due to injury, playing 125 snaps in six games.

Pro Football Focus has graded Jones as a top-35 tackle in each of his three seasons. This includes 19th- and 22nd-place rankings in 2022 and ’24. An opportunity exists for Jones to bolster his 2026 free agency stock by fending off the younger players for the gig. As of now, it does not look like he is a particularly important extension candidate in Chicago. A good contract year would place him as a high-end 2026 free agent. The next several weeks will be pivotal in forging this path.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/18/24

August 18th, 2024 at 7:36pm CST by Adam La Rose

Sunday’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Chicago Bears

  • Activated from active/NFI list: T Kiran Amegadjie

Cleveland Browns

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

  • Activated from active/NFI list: Tanner Taula
  • Waived (injury designation): DL Eric Banks

Washington signed in late July, but his Falcons tenure has proven to be brief. The 28-year-old was let go to clear a roster spot for Justin Simmons‘ arrival. Washington last played a regular season game in 2022, and he will now look to find another opportunity ahead of roster cutdowns.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/17/24

July 17th, 2024 at 6:47pm CST by Ely Allen

Some roster movement today in minor transactions as several teams are starting to add players to early injured lists:

Chicago Bears

  • Placed on active/NFI list: T Kiran Amegadjie
  • Placed on active/PUP list: DT Jamree Kromah

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Seattle Seahawks

There was good news on the Horton front back in May as it was announced that the Texans defender had completed his final treatment for Hodgkin lymphoma. As a rookie out of TCU, Horton sat out the final seven games of the 2023 season on the non-football illness list. As he continues to work his way back to the field, it appears he’ll start the summer on the list, as well.

Thompson’s situation in Kansas City also received some good news of late. After suffering a seizure that caused him to go into cardiac arrest in early-June, the Chiefs defender continues to make progress towards a return. He’ll start the summer on the non-football injury list but will continue to work his way back as he continues with medical procedures, per Nate Taylor of The Athletic.

NFC North Rumors: Amegadjie, Oladapo, Turner

May 18th, 2024 at 5:53pm CST by Ely Allen

After watching left tackle Braxton Jones miss six games last season, the Bears utilized a third-round pick to add some quality depth to the roster in Yale offensive tackle Kiran Amegadjie. That quality depth will have to wait, though, as Amegadjie is still reportedly making his way back from a season-ending injury he suffered in college, according to Courtney Cronin of ESPN.

Amegadjie suffered a partially torn quad in his final season at Yale that limited him to only four games last year after he underwent surgery. The team claims that doctors had medically cleared Amegadjie, but he has yet to practice in Chicago and will likely be sidelined for the at least the remainder of the spring. Head coach Matt Eberflus said that the plan is for the rookie to be ready by training camp.

Here are a few other rumors from around the NFC North:

  • Another rookie getting a delayed start to his NFL career is Packers safety Kitan Oladapo, per ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. The fifth-round pick out of Oregon State broke the big toe on his left foot during a drill at the NFL scouting combine. He waited to undergo surgery until after his pro day, where he still performed in position drills, and made teams aware of the situation during the pre-draft process. Currently sporting a protective boot and riding a scooter to lessen stress on the toe, Oladapo is not expected to participate in any offseason workouts. He aims to be ready by training camp.
  • New Vikings pass rusher Dallas Turner suffered from an unprecedented run of offensive draft picks to open the 2024 NFL Draft. After the minor slide to the middle of the first round, Turner finally came off the board at No. 17 overall as the third defensive player taken. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated hints that the unforeseen streak of offensive players may not have been the only reason that Turner slipped later than expected. Breer says that Turner, UCLA pass rusher Laiatu Latu, and Washington offensive tackle Troy Fautanu all fell due to red flags from medical concerns coming into the draft. Without those issues, Breer speculates the three would’ve gone closer to their projected values.

NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/14/24

May 14th, 2024 at 9:14pm CST by Ben Levine

Teams continue to sign their draft picks to rookie contracts. We’ve collected today’s miscellaneous signings below:

Chicago Bears

  • OT Kiran Amegadjie (third round, Yale)

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Indianapolis Colts

Minnesota Vikings

  • OT Walter Rouse (sixth round, Oklahoma)

New York Giants

  • CB Dru Phillips (third round, Kentucky)

Seattle Seahawks