The following is the fifth of nine position previews in advance of training camp.
Buoyed by three key offseason additions, a much-improved offensive line helped propel the 2025 Bears to the NFC North title and a playoff win over the Packers.
Two of those players return for a second season in Chicago in left guard Joe Thuney and right guard Jonah Jackson, while center Drew Dalman has been replaced following his retirement by veteran Garrett Bradbury.
Last season, Thuney was named the inaugural Protector of the Year as the NFL's best lineman. He was also chosen first-team All-Pro for the third straight season and earned Pro Bowl honors for the fourth consecutive year.
Thuney boasts a nearly unmatched championship pedigree, capturing nine division titles in 10 NFL seasons with the Patriots, Chiefs and Bears and winning four Super Bowls, two with New England and two with Kansas City.
"He's just a winner," said coach Ben Johnson. "He knows what it looks like. [He] gets his work done. He's a positive influence throughout the week of preparation. He's the same guy every single day; the model of consistency in terms of his performance but also in terms of how he goes about his craft. And then in the game, he's just what you're going to get every single week. He's been very durable. He's very smart and he's been a huge part of our success up front."
Jackson started all 17 games for the Bears in 2025, reverting to the form he displayed during his first four NFL seasons with the Lions in 2020-23. He excelled while reuniting with Johnson, who was an offensive assistant in Detroit during Jackson's first three years, including in 2021 when he was voted to the Pro Bowl.
"I've been with him since he was a rookie and I think he's a tremendous competitor," Johnson said. "He brings a physical demeanor up front … He's played at a high level. As far as I'm concerned, he played at a Pro Bowl level last year as well. [He] certainly didn't get those accolades, but hopefully another year fully healthy, he'll get that recognition."
When Dalman retired in February at the age of 27, the Bears acted swiftly to replace him, acquiring Bradbury in a trade with the Patriots.
"We monitored a lot of different things that were happening," said general manager Ryan Poles said. "The big thing for us was finding the right fit in terms of what's going to be adaptable and that's going to fit into especially the outside zone scheme, mid zone. We went through that list and what's best for us. You could go into free agency, you could trade. We felt like the best thing for us to do was to make that trade with a veteran center that's played with a young quarterback before, that's very good with his communication, smart, been in different systems. We feel like he can plug in and have command of that O-line."
Bradbury arrives after spending his first seven NFL seasons with the Vikings (2019-24) and Patriots (2025). He was chosen by Minnesota with the 18th pick in the first round of the 2019 draft out of North Carolina State, where he roomed with Thuney. Last season, Bradbury started all 17 games for the Patriots, helping them reach the Super Bowl.
The Bears boast an emerging star at right tackle in fourth-year pro Darnell Wright. The 10th pick in the 2023 draft had his best NFL season in 2025, starting all 16 games he played and earning second-team All-Pro honors.
"His approach and professionalism is what stood out from the start of the springtime a year ago up until this point," Johnson said. "He just continues to get better. When you watch us on offense, we're certainly a little bit more right-handed than left-handed, and that is with him in mind. I think he's one of those tackles that's a powerful player and can displace guys off the line of scrimmage. And so when you have that available, it's such a luxury that you really want to be able to sink into it."
One of the most intriguing position battles in training camp promises to be at left tackle, where fifth-year pro Braxton Jones will attempt to regain his starting job.
Selected by the Bears in the fifth round of the 2022 draft out of Southern Utah, Jones opened all 17 games as a rookie. He remained the No. 1 left tackle the next two seasons, though injuries limited him to 11 contests in 2023 and 12 in 2024.
Despite still rebounding from a broken fibula that ended his 2024 campaign, Jones won a competition last summer with Ozzy Trapilo, Theo Benedet and Kiran Amegadjie for the starting left tackle position. Jones opened the first four games before being replaced by Trapilo in the second quarter of a road win over the Raiders. A few weeks later, Jones sustained a knee injury in practice that sidelined him for the rest of the season.
An unrestricted free agent for the first time this offseason, Jones had an opportunity to leave the Bears and sign with another NFL team. But the chance to compete for his old starting job was too good to pass up.
Jones will be challenged for the job by Benedet, Amegadjie and veteran free-agent signee Jedrick Wills, who started 57 of 58 games played over five years with the Browns from 2020-24. Trapilo is expected to miss most if not all of the season with a knee injury he sustained in last year's playoff win over the Packers.
The Bears addressed their offensive line early in this year's draft, selecting Iowa center Logan Jones with the 57th pick in the second round. Jones was a unanimous All-American selection and two-time first-team All-Big Ten honoree while starting 51 of 52 games played for the Hawkeyes. Last year he won the Rimington Trophy as the best center in college football.
"We were really smitten with Logan throughout the process," Johnson said after the draft. "Logan was at the top of the list for us. We felt convicted as a staff, coaching staff and personnel side that he was our guy."
Fourth-year veteran Jordan McFadden and second-year pro Luke Newman return to provide depth and competition. McFadden appeared in seven regular-season games for the Bears last year, playing just two snaps on offense before starting the divisional playoff game against the Rams due to Trapilo's injury the week before. Newman, a 2025 sixth-round pick from Michigan State, appeared in nine games as a rookie, playing 25 snaps on offense and 47 on special teams.
Also competing in training camp will be second-year guard Kyle Hergel and undrafted rookies Caden Barnett, Jaren Kump and Mason Murphy.
