After landing two new veteran starters for their offensive line in right tackle Tytus Howard and left guard Zion Johnson, the Cleveland Browns were expected to remain active Tuesday during Day 2 of the NFL’s legal tampering window.
The late-afternoon news coming from ESPN insider Adam Schefter’s phone wasn’t exactly what Browns fans were hoping for, though.
Per Schefter, the Browns are bringing back Teven Jenkins for the 2026 season. Terms of the deal were not immediately known, but the move was confirmed by the team.
Browns have re-signed free-agent G Teven Jenkins, who played in all 17 games of last season, starting four at right guard.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 10, 2026
Jenkins was being groomed as a potential replacement to Wyatt Teller at right guard last season, rotating series, and eventually starting four games late in the year with Teller tending to a knee injury.
That was toward the end of Kevin Stefanski's run as head coach, though, and Jenkins’ performance in those games hardly screamed “right guard of the future.”
The Browns could definitely be leaning that way, though, with Jenkins now officially back in the mix. Teller’s contract is set to void at the start of the new league year, and Joel Bitonio’s future in Cleveland remains entirely up in the air, especially after the team made Johnson — the Chargers’ left guard for the past three seasons — a top priority in the first wave of free agency.
Teven Jenkins has a chance to be Browns’ starting right guard in 2026
As it stands, the Browns’ offensive line would feature Howard at right tackle, Jenkins at right guard, Luke Wypler at center, Johnson at left guard, and Dawand Jones at left tackle. Cleveland also holds nine selections in the 2026 NFL Draft, and the offensive line figures to be high on the team’s priority list.
Fans might be more comfortable with Jenkins in a reserve role, but he was drafted by Chicago in 2021 with a top-40 pick, and performed well in pass protection for quarterback Shedeur Sanders in 2025, per Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN.
“Jenkins had a pass block win rate at guard (94.4%) that would have ranked 17th last season. His run block win rate at guard (65.6%) would have been fifth-worst if he had enough snaps to qualify.”
Jenkins would obviously need to improve in the run game to be a starter in Todd Monken’s offense. Given the team’s cautious approach to free agency so far, and the multi-year contracts already given out to Howard, Johnson and linebacker Quincy Williams, the Browns could be eyeing a training camp competition between Jenkins and a player to be named in the 2026 draft.
He might not be the sexy name that Browns fans were hoping for, but the team likely views Jenkins as a cheap and capable solution who could help bridge the gap to Phase II of its offensive line rebuild in 2027.