Chicago Bears acquiring Dan Feeney from the Miami Dolphins to add offensive line depth as they work to reach a 53-man roster
As the Chicago Bears go through the process of finalizing moves to reach the 53-man roster limit by 3 p.m. Tuesday, the team is bringing in a veteran offensive lineman.
A league source confirmed Monday night that the Bears are acquiring Dan Feeney from the Miami Dolphins via a trade. Compensation is not known but chances are it involves a late-round draft pick.
Feeney, 29, can play both guard and center, which makes him of value to the Bears considering depth question marks the team has at the end of the preseason. The Sandburg graduate was a third-round selection by the Los Angeles Chargers in 2017 out of Indiana. He spent the first four seasons of his career with the Chargers and played for the New York Jets for the past two seasons.
Feeney has appeared in 96 career games with 64 starts, although he made only seven starts over the last two seasons. Feeney signed with the Dolphins in March during the first week of free agency but Miami made him available, and the Bears decided to shore up their line with a veteran.
Left guard Teven Jenkins has a right leg injury — he left Soldier Field after Saturday’s preseason finale against the Buffalo Bills wearing a walking boot — and is not expected to be available for the season opener against the Green Bay Packers on Sept. 10. It’s possible Jenkins misses multiple games in September and the team has called his status week-to-week.
The Bears shifted Cody Whitehair from center to left guard and inserted veteran Lucas Patrick into the lineup at center during practice. Patrick, who missed a good chunk of training camp, was not in uniform for the Bills game so Doug Kramer started at center before leaving with a right hand injury.
The Bears have maintained that Patrick will be ready to go against the Packers and although right guard Nate Davis hasn’t practiced much since training camp opened, there hasn’t been a sense of alarm at Halas Hall that he will be unable to go. The team waived guard Alex Leatherwood on Monday, the former first-round pick of the Las Vegas Raiders, and will have a slew of moves to make Tuesday before the roster deadline.
Adding Feeney to the mix gives the Bears an experienced option in the event something happens. Feeney signed a $3.25 million, one-year contract with the Dolphins but it included a $2.045 million signing bonus paid by them. The Bears will be on the hook for his $1.08 million base salary and a $125,000 roster bonus.