With the league year getting underway this week and the legal tampering window opening up in the morning, I figured it was time to talk through the Bears roster situation.
We have approximately $33 million in cap space following the trade of DJ Moore, the release of Tremaine Edmunds, and the retirement of Drew Dalman.
Here is the positional breakdown of players currently under contract and those who have entered free agency:
Quarterbacks
- Under Contract: Caleb Williams, Tyson Bagent.
- Free Agents: Case Keenum (UFA).
Not a lot of change expected here. Caleb is the man. Some rumblings about Bagent being a trade chip, but the staff supposedly loves him, they wouldn’t trade him for cheap. This is an ugly QB class though so anything possible there. Will be interesting to see if they upgrade Keenum one way or another.
Running Backs
- Under Contract: D’Andre Swift, Roschon Johnson, Kyle Monangai, Deion Hankins, Brittain Brown.
- Free Agents: Travis Homer (UFA), Trestan Ebner (UFA).
Some rumors that Swift could be a cap casualty in the wake of Monangai’s success, but I think BJ wants a 2-headed monster here. If Swift goes, it will be because they brought someone they like better in, not to save money. Roschon Johnson will be cut. Travis Homer and Trestan Ebner have hit the open market as free agents, god willing this is the last we’ll hear of Homer. We likely need to add some depth here; I don’t know that either Hankins or Brown are viewed as more than practice squad guys and special teamers.
Wide Receivers
- Under Contract: Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, Jahdae Walker, Maurice Alexander, JP Richardson.
- Free Agents: Devin Duvernay (UFA), Olamide Zaccheaus (UFA), Miles Boykin (UFA).
Following the blockbuster trade of DJ Moore to Buffalo, this room is extremely young. While Odunze and the rookie Burden III have star potential, the vacancy of all three primary veteran backups (Duvernay, Zaccheaus, and Boykin) leaves a massive experience gap. I think Jahdae could really break out this year, but they definitely need to add some veteran depth.
Tight Ends
- Under Contract: Cole Kmet, Colston Loveland, Stephen Carlson, Nikola Kalinic, Qadir Ismail.
- Free Agents: Durham Smythe (UFA)
This is one of the strongest units on the team. With Kmet and the rising star Colston Loveland. I don’t expect anything from those developmental guys, so I wouldn’t be shocked to see us add another inline guy here at some point, though BJ has made a habit of using OLs for that role.
Offensive Line
- Under Contract: Darnell Wright (RT), Joe Thuney (LG), Jonah Jackson (RG), Garrett Bradbury (C), Kiran Amegadjie, Luke Newman, Ozzy Trapilo.
- Free Agents: Braxton Jones (UFA), Ryan Bates (UFA), Jordan McFadden (UFA), Theo Benedet (ERFA—Tendered).
The interior was elite prior to Drew Dalman’s retirement. I already talked a bit about the plans here with Bradbury and Newman. The left tackle position is a major concern with Trapilo expected to miss most of the year with a career threatening injury. Amegadjie isn’t the answer, and they are almost certain to let Jones walk. If they make a splash signing this week, it will probably be here. We may bring McFadden back as the swing tackle. Drafting either a Center and/or a Tackle is also likely.
Defensive Line
- Under Contract: Montez Sweat (EDGE), Dayo Odeyingbo (EDGE), Gervon Dexter Sr. (DT), Grady Jarrett (DT), Austin Booker, Daniel Hardy, Shemar Turner, Jonathan Garvin, Jeremiah Martin.
- Free Agents: Andrew Billings (UFA), Chris Williams (UFA), Joe Tryon-Shoyinka (UFA), Dominique Robinson (UFA).
Things are rough here. We were bad up-front last year, and it was really expensive too. Awesome combo. In the middle Dexter, Jarrett, Billings and are not getting it done. Billings was good before he got hurt in 2024 but last year he was awful, and horribly out of shape, he’s gone. On the edge Sweat and Dayo are basically non-factors. Booker shows flashes and with another offseason under his belt might become a centerpiece. Turner was a zero as a rookie and it’s unclear what position he plays, he’ll need to really turn it around to avoid being a total bust.
Fortunately, the Bears tapped out on the Maxx Crosby sweepstakes, and I really don’t want us breaking the bank for an Edge in free agency. We’re way over invested here; it’s time to build a pass rush through the draft. Most mock drafts have us going with DT in the first round, and I wholeheartedly agree. Can’t rule out a run at Hendrickson here on Wednesday, but that would mean that Booker and Dayo are coming off the bench. That could stunt Booker’s development and Dayo would be an awfully expensive backup.
Linebackers
- Under Contract: T.J. Edwards, Noah Sewell, Ruben Hyppolite II, Nephi Sewell, Dominique Hampton.
- Free Agents: D’Marco Jackson (UFA), Amen Ogbongbemiga (UFA), Jalen Reeves-Maybin (UFA).
The release of Tremaine Edmunds was an obvious cap move, leaving T.J. Edwards as the lone veteran starter (and he struggled coming off an injury). Both Sewell and Hyppolite have been exposed when they’ve been on the field, neither should be considered a starting option. D’Marco Jackson was a nice midseason addition and I’m hoping he sticks around. The situation here is pretty dire and we’re probably going to need to attack it from both angles this offseason.
Defensive Backs
- Under Contract: Jaylon Johnson (CB), Tyrique Stevenson (CB), Kyler Gordon (CB), Terell Smith (CB), Josh Blackwell, Zah Frazier, Dallis Flowers, Gervarrius Owens.
- Free Agents: Kevin Byard (UFA), Jaquan Brisker (UFA), Jonathan Owens (UFA), Elijah Hicks (UFA), CJ Gardner-Johnson (UFA), Nahshon Wright (UFA), Nick McCloud (UFA), Jaylon Jones (UFA).
There is a massive divide here: the Cornerback room is set and solid, but the Safety room is currently empty. Every significant safety from last year’s roster is a free agent. Re-signing one of Byard or Brisker is likely a top priority before the legal tampering period ends. I wouldn’t expect either CJGJ or Nahshon to be back. Terrell Smith looked like he was growing into a stud when he went down in the preseason, so we’ll have to hope he bounces back. Zah Frasier was out for personal reasons his rookie year and I would be shocked if he ever plays a down for us. Needless to say, we’ve got some work to do here, but I have a feeling this will be our 4th priority after LT, DT and LB. We may wait until the second wave of FAs to address our depth here.
Special Teams
- Under Contract: Cairo Santos (K), Tory Taylor (P), Luke Elkin (LS).
- Free Agents: Scott Daly (UFA).
Special teams, not much to talk about here. But there will certainly be grumblings about Santos’ weak leg and Taylor’s status as an underperforming 4th round pick. I suspect that we run it back as-is, but it would be malpractice to not have an open competition in camp with some UDFAs.