With less than 10 days to go before free agency officially starts, the Chicago Bears have some interesting decisions to make.

If one position group caught the brunt of the criticism for the entire Bears team this year, it was the offensive line. With that said, it’s not necessarily smart practice to let every free-agent lineman leave, especially if they still have potential to keep improving.

Teven Jenkins, who began his career as a tackle and settled in over the last couple years as the Bears’ left guard, is as intriguing a free agent as there is this winter. He’s still young, and though he’s never quite lived up to his second-round draft status, he’s continued to improve throughout his four-year career.

One thing is certain: if the Bears don’t make it clear they want Jenkins back, some other team will be quick to snatch him up,

On Friday, ESPN’s Aaron Schatz projected that the Miami Dolphins, who have lots of room at Jenkins’ position, would sign the 26-year-old, who is projected for a three-year, $31 million contract by Spotrac.

“Practically every guard on the Miami roster is a free agent… so why not upgrade the position with a bright young talent like Jenkins?” Schatz wrote. “He is finally coming into his own at guard after starting off as a tackle and struggling with injuries early in his career.”

“This is more of a bet on potential than production so far, as Jenkins had an average pass block win rate (92.0%) and a slightly below-average run block win rate (69.3%) this past season. But the soon-to-be 27-year-old has the talent to move men off the ball in the running game.”

In 2024, Jenkins played 14 of the Bears’ 17 games, which was actually a new career-high. He has a 2.2 percent blown block rate in his career, per Sports Info Solutions, which slots him a tick above average at the guard position.

Should Chicago make a strong effort to bring Jenkins back? Or are they best served by building an even younger, cheaper group of guards for quarterback Caleb Williams?