The Chicago Bears have officially slammed the door shut on the possibility of dealing away offensive tackle Braxton Jones before the NFL trade deadline.
Jones has become a popular name in NFL media circles as a potential trade candidate for the Bears ahead of the November 4 deadline. The 26-year-old is in the final season of his contract and was demoted from his starting job earlier in the season, but he is also an experienced tackle with 44 career starts to his name — a midseason rarity.
Unfortunately, if the Bears had any intention to shop Jones before the trade deadline, they put that to rest on Saturday when they placed Jones on the injured reserve list.
Jones popped up on the injury report as a limited participant for Wednesday’s practice because of a knee injury. He then sat out the final two practices of the week before the Bears ruled him out on their final injury report for Sunday’s game against Baltimore.
With his move to IR, though, Jones is officially ineligible as a trade candidate.
While NFL rules allow teams to trade players who are on injured reserve, they must be able to medically clear the player before completing the deal. The Bears won’t be able to do that with Jones, as his placement on injured reserve means he will miss at least the next four games and won’t be eligible for activation until Week 12 at the earliest.
Would Bears Have Wanted to Trade Braxton Jones?
Jones’ knee injury eliminates the possibility of the Bears trading him at the deadline, but it is not clear whether the team would have tried to move him in the first place.
Jones, who is in the final year of his contract, seems unlikely to remain with the Bears for the long haul after losing his starting job to a second-year former UDFA in Week 5. He had stretches of quality play in his previous seasons as their starting left tackle, but he has not looked like the same player in 2025 after last year’s significant ankle injury.
Even still, the Bears might not have leapt at the chance to trade away a quality tackle unless they received a too-good-to-refuse offer. Theo Benedet is their current starter, but he has played just 227 career snaps after missing his entire rookie season with an injury. Second-round rookie Ozzy Trapilo has also not yet proven himself, either.
Jones provided a veteran safety net, even if his play had not entirely lived up.
The Bears will also likely be in play for a 2027 compensatory draft pick if Jones walks in free agency next spring. While a trade could have netted them a 2026 selection instead, the benefit of having Jones on the roster may have outweighed more immediate capital.
It’s all moot now, anyway.
Who Else Could Bears Move at NFL Trade Deadline?
Jones is out of the trade picture, but could the Bears consider moving another one of their players before the NFL trade deadline arrives at 4 p.m. ET on November 4?
NFL analysts have brought up veteran wide receiver DJ Moore as a possibility, but the Bears seem highly unlikely to move on from one of their most talented playmakers — who is signed through the 2029 season — at a time when they are still forging their identity on offense. Moore’s contract also makes trading him much more difficult.
Third-year running back Roschon Johnson would make more sense. He has become the forgotten third man in the Bears’ rushing offense behind D’Andre Swift and rookie Kyle Monangai. Unfortunately, he is also dealing with a back injury that held him out of practices this week and prompted the Bears to rule him out against the Ravens.
Otherwise, nothing major jumps off the page for the Bears — and that’s just fine.
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