3 Bears who should be on the trade block this offseason

2. Justin Jones

The Bears inked Jones to a two-year, $12 million deal to pry him away from the Rams in free agency ahead of last season. It was a reasonable gamble on a young defensive tackle who’d flashed high-quality play during his time in Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, the gamble didn’t pay off for the Bears. Jones posted a paltry PFF grade of 45.8 in 17 games as the team’s starting defensive tackle. Now he is slated to count $7.4 million against Chicago’s cap in 2023 as the team’s projected starter on the inside.

It might be difficult for the Bears to find a team interested in giving up anything of value for Jones, but it’s possible another team is willing to take a chance on the talented, 26-year-old defensive lineman.

The Bears should be happy if they can dump Jones’ salary without needing to attach an asset to his contract to sweeten the deal. Even a conditional late-round draft pick should be enough to tempt Chicago into letting him play his football elsewhere next year. The team needs to find a difference-maker for their defensive line and it’s clear Jones doesn’t have that sort of upside.