Hello, Chicago Bears fans! Well, quite a bit has changed with the roster of the Chicago Bears since the “legal tampering” period began on Monday until the official start of the league year today. The Bears have signed a number of new players to their roster, welcomed back a few of their free agents, and said goodbye to a number of significant contributors to the 2025 Bears team. Let’s look at what the Bears still need to accomplish after the first wave of free agent moves this week.
Safety
The Chicago Bears
faced the free agency period this season with literally zero safeties under contract. Jaquan Brisker, Kevin Byard, Jonathan Owens, and Elijah Hicks were all unrestricted free agents as of Monday. The most significant move the Bears made on Monday was signing free agent free safety Coby Bryant to a three-year deal. This essentially foreclosed the return of Kevin Byard, who subsequently signed with the New England Patriots.
While as of this moment, Jaquan Brisker remains unsigned by any team, the Bears have strongly signaled they are not interested in bringing Brisker back for the 2026 season. The Bears did re-sign Elijah Hicks to a one-year contract; however, the Bears must add at least two more safeties between now and the draft in order to complete their safety room. Expect the Bears to make another free agent signing equivalent to the deal they gave Owens last year, and the Bears will probably target safety in the first three rounds of the 2026 draft. While the Bears added Cam Lewis in a two-year deal, he is more of a backup nickel corner than he is a safety, given that he is just 5’9”.
Cornerback
The Bears technically have starters at all three cornerback positions with Jaylon Johnson and Tyrique Stephenson as your starting corners and Kyler Gordon as their starting nickel. Further, they have Terrell Smith returning from injury, and Zah Frazier is expected to be at camp after a year spent dealing with what the club called “personal” issues. That said, the Bears essentially benched Stephenson for Nahshon Wright, who has since signed with the Jets on a one-year deal. As such, cornerback is a sneaky need for the team this offseason.
The Bears were rumored to be in on Alonte Taylor, who played under Dennis Allen with the Saints, but he signed a big contract with the Tennessee Titans. If the Bears don’t add to their cornerback room in free agency, then it would not be surprising to see them add to their cornerback depth on Day 2 of the draft.
Tight End
The Bears are set at their top two tight end positions with breakout star Colston Loveland and solid veteran Cole Kmet. However, Ben Johnson’s offense needs a good blocking tight end as the third guy on the depth chart, and free agency saw the Bears lose Durham Smythe to the Baltimore Ravens, as Smythe joins Declan Doyle there, his former offensive coordinator with the Bears. If the Bears do not add a blocking tight end in free agency, they may look to spend a late-round pick at the position.
Defensive Line
The Bears had the worst of all possible worlds when it came to the defensive line in the 2025 season. They had a bad overall pass rush, they were terrible against the run, and they were spending a ton of cap space on players like Grady Jarrett and Dayo Odeyingbo, who, however motivated he might be for the 2026 season, didn’t provide much to the Bears before he was injured.
An expensive and poorly performing defensive line is not only the Bears’ primary roster weakness, but it is the Achilles Heel of the team as far as their aspirations to compete for a Super Bowl. While the recent cancellation of the Maxx Crosby trade to the Ravens raises the possibility that the Bears could make a big splash move with a trade, the Bears need to get better across the whole defensive line. Austin Booker certainly showed some promise in 2025 after he returned from the injured list, and Montez Sweat had a good season; there wasn’t much else going right on the d-line for the Bears.
The Bears signed Neville Gallimore from the Indianapolis Colts to a 2-year, $12 million contract, and he should help improve their run defense while providing a modest uptick to their interior pass rush. The Bears also signed Kentavius Street from the Atlanta Falcons, but he is strictly a depth piece. Whether the Bears trade for Maxx Crosby or not, they are in desperate need of several additions to the interior and edge of their defensive line. Expect the Bears to spend perhaps two of their top three picks at edge and defensive tackle when the draft rolls around.
Wide Receiver
The Bears traded DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills along with a 5th-round pick, and they recouped a 2nd-round pick in return. Olamide “Oz” Zaccheaus signed with the Atlanta Falcons. And Devin Duvernay, their backup wide receiver and kick returner, remains a free agent. So the Bears have some work to do to fill out their wide receiver depth. While Rome Odunze and Luther Burden are expected to take feature roles on the Bears’ offense in 2026, Jahdae Walker was the only credible depth receiver going into free agency. On day two, the Bears signed an old friend of Ben Johnson’s from the Lions, Kalif Raymond, who should fit in as both a third wide receiver and as the Bears’ primary kick returner in the 2026 season.
But the Bears still need to add to this room, either with another free agent signing or a Day 3 pick in the 2026 NFL draft.
Offensive Line
The biggest shock of this offseason was the sudden retirement of Drew Dalman, the Bears’ Pro Bowl center from the 2025 season, despite the fact that he was just 27 and still had two years remaining on his deal. The Bears, clearly not enamored with the free agent market of centers this year, pivoted by trading for Garret Bradbury from the New England Patriots in exchange for a 2027 fifth-round pick. While Bradbury is certainly not at the level of a Drew Dalman, he brings experience to the center position, a very important quality as Caleb Willians enters his third season with the Bears. Bradbury is signed for this season, so look for the Bears to add to the center position in the draft.
Brad Biggs recently mentioned Sam Hecht, the center for the Kansas State Wildcats, who is expected to be a third-round pick in 2026. At left tackle, the other open position for the Bears, the problem is that promising rookie Ozzy Trapilo tore his patella tendon and is expected to miss most, if not all, of the 2026 NFL season. The Bears have addressed this problem by re-signing Braxton Jones to a five-million-dollar, one-year contract that can reach ten million if he meets incentives, and by signing former Cleveland Browns first-round pick Jedrick Willis Jr. to a one-year deal. Both Willis Jr and Jones will likely be the top competition for the Bears’ starting left tackle position coming out of training camp this year, with Theo Benedet as the dark horse and Kiran Amegadjie as a long shot. I do not expect the Bears to add at the tackle position, unless it’s a late-round flyer on a player, as they are too far down in the draft position to have a shot at this year’s best offensive tackle prospects. Clearly, the Bears hope to plug this hole for one year and see Trapilo return in 2027 and reclaim the starting position.
How would you rank Chicago’s remaining needs?
