Over the next two weeks, the Chicago Bears will simultaneously turn up the heat on their offseason program and wrap it up before a six-week break ahead of training camp. While each offseason’s acquisition period brings plenty of change, the focus in Chicago is much more on continuity than on major changes in hopes of finding success. Following an 11-6 season that saw their first playoff victory in 15 years, the team’s goals are different for the first time in recent memory.
Unlike the last handful
of previous offseasons, changes weren’t the headlines of the offseason for the Bears. Although change is inevitable from year to year, this was the least active year for general manager Ryan Poles since taking over in 2022. Heading into the first set of OTAs, there are slated to be at least eight new starters in 2026. All things considered, that’s a pretty light load for integration compared to what we’ve seen over the past few years. More importantly, the offense will be returning mostly familiar faces. Outside of center (Garrett Bradbury or Logan Jones) and receiver (Kalif Raymond and maybe Zavion Thomas), every key player at the top of the depth chart has one year under the belt in head coach Ben Johnson’s offense.
Before the Bears open up two sets of three-day OTA practices, let’s talk about the five biggest questions surrounding this squad as they look to repeat as the NFC North champs for the first time since 2005-2006.
1. Will The Offense Finally Hold The Upper Hand?
Growing pains for any team starting their “on the grass” team sessions should be expected, but if we’re simply comparing the two units, the offense trumps all in both continuity and overall talent. Now, more than ever, the offense’s growth needs to reflect that on the field.
Despite the large majority of the coaching staff going into their second year together, it stands to reason that for the first time in a while, the offense should be ahead of the defense, right? After all, their young quarterback has found stability in one of the league’s most prolific systems, and outside of a few names, the top of the depth chart has plenty of familiarity playing together. This is where expectations should start to be set.
In theory, the offense should be in line for another big leap. Not only is it Year 2 of Johnson’s offense, but quarterback Caleb Williams is going into his third season as an NFL quarterback, and almost all of his skill position players from a season ago will be returning. Although it would be disingenuous to overlook the loss of receiver DJ Moore, a healthy Rome Odunze, coupled with Luther Burden and more 12- and 13-personnel with the trio of Colston Loveland, Cole Kmet, and rookie Sam Roush, should lead to a more defined offensive vision and fewer mistakes.
Simply put, it needs to show on the field very early in the process.
2. Is The Defense Truly Improved Over Last Year’s Unit?
Looking at the defensive side of the ball, change was needed, but it’s easy to question if enough movement was made. After heading into the acquisition period with none of their Week 1 safeties under contract, the front office quickly remade the room by giving Coby Bryant their richest free agent deal, drafting Dillon Thieneman in the first round, signing Cam Lewis to a two-year deal, and bringing back Elijah Hicks on a one-year contract. Cornerback remains largely unchanged, outside of swapping Nahshon Wright for Malik Muhammad. Linebacker, on the other hand, saw multiple changes, including the release of Tremaine Edmunds, coupled with the signing of Devin Bush in free agency, locking down Demarco Jackson on a two-year deal, and the fifth-round selection of Keyshaun Elliott.
While the hope for the defense is that an improved (and more versatile) group of safeties and linebackers will work in tandem with a healthier cornerback group to help shut down opposing offenses’ passing games, it’s fair to wonder what their plan truly was on the defensive line. Despite adding a trio of free agents and a late-round pick to the defensive tackle group, the line as a whole remains primarily unchanged. Even with high expectations for a completely remade defensive end group, the Bears doubled down on their acquisitions from last year and will rely on “coaching better” as a means for improvement. The financials help provide context, but it’s fair to say that even the most optimistic onlookers have questions about their approach.
Only time will tell if better health and schematic fits are enough to push this group back into the “average” category for the upcoming season.
3. Sorting Through The Offensive Line Competition: Who Wins Out?
Both center and left tackle are up for grabs. Not only are both starting spots in question, but the depth behind them could be as well. Although that’s a far cry from what this group was shaping up to be heading into the playoffs in January, it’s fair to say that the Bears have done a solid job in creating enough competition and upside to avoid a serious drop off in 2026.
First, we’ll start at left tackle. With Ozzy Trapilo expected to miss most, if not all, of the upcoming season as he recovers from a ruptured patellar tendon suffered in their Wild Card victory against the Green Bay Packers, it appears we’ll be getting a second-straight training camp with a battle for the starting spot. On the surface, this appears to be Jones’ job to lose. Not only did he start the majority of his first three years in the league, but there’s a reason the team opted to bring him back on a one-year, $5 million deal. While some might argue that this is a prime opportunity for Kiran Amegadjie to once again throw his hat into the ring, former Top 10 pick Jedrick Wills Jr. appears to be the next man up in what fans can expect to be a two-to-three player competition. Despite a solid start to his NFL career, injuries derailed his time in Cleveland, leading him to take a year off to get healthy. Assuming he’s still got some juice left in the tank, Wills could make things interesting in the coming months. On paper, Theo Benedet is another name that could be in line for a crack at the job. Still, considering this coaching staff was more comfortable with starting Joe Thuney at left tackle and Jordan McFadden at left guard on short notice in a big playoff game, it’s fair to wonder if the ship has sailed on that experiment. Regardless, Benedet has plenty of value as a depth piece, who might be best suited to play on the interior, anyway.
Next, we move to the center position, where Drew Dalman’s surprise retirement spurred a series of moves the Bears were not expecting to make this offseason. Despite rampant speculation that Chicago would target Tyler Linderbaum in free agency, they instead acted swiftly to acquire Bradbury from the Patriots for a future late-round pick. Although he brings scheme familiarity and a veteran presence, the drop-off between Bradbury and Dalman is notable. The Bears wasted little time in April’s draft, taking another swing at Dalman’s replacement when they took Jones at No. 57 overall. While some viewed that as a reach, the organization was clearly intrigued with Jones’ upside and potential NFL readiness. Even if fans are ready to hand Jones the job with a strong showing in the coming months, Johnson has made it clear that he values a veteran presence at center. That means the rookie has his work cut out for him to win the Week 1 job.
4. If Jaylon Johnson stays home and Kyler Gordon can’t get on the field, who steps up in place of them?
Late last week, the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs reported that Johnson has yet to report to voluntary workouts, and Gordon is suffering from yet another soft tissue injury. Rational or not, the collective reaction from fans wasn’t positive. While Johnson’s status shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, considering his history of staying at home in California until Mandatory Mini Camp, the report of Gordon suffering from another nagging injury was enough to send multiple people into a spiral.
While it doesn’t sound like Gordon’s status for Training Camp should be in question (yet), it does force two different perspectives on their current situation.
- How can coaches become more familiar with and comfortable with a cornerback group that is once again not on the field together?
- Who takes their snaps in the meantime?
It’s important to remember that while these practices feel important in the moment, nobody remembers who participated and who didn’t once the regular season rolls around. That’s not meant to diminish the importance of the limited snaps they get together in the offseason, but to simply provide some additional, zoomed-out perspective on the Bears’ current situation.
Without focusing too much on who is not around, let’s take a deeper dive into the opportunity ahead for a few players.
- Tyrique Stevenson
The former second-round pick is heading into a contract year. After opening last season as a starter, Stevenson quickly lost his job to Nahshon Wright once Johnson was back and healthy. Not only is this a big year for him and his Bears tenure, but Year 4 will be a season where he makes or loses plenty of money heading into free agency next March.
- Malik Muhammad
Despite being projected as a Day 2 pick, the former Texas product slipped into the middle part of Round 4 before the Bears stopped his slide. Although his frame is slight, Muhammad showed plenty of high-level traits against top-level competition during his time in the SEC. He worked primarily at nickel during the rookie mini camp, so it will be interesting to see if he’s first in line for a shot on the boundary or if they plan to keep him inside until training camp. His physical and overall athletic profile resembles more of a boundary player than a nickel.
- Terell Smith
Watching a player’s season come to an end at any point during the year is tough, but it’s even more difficult when it happens during the preseason. Smith was on the roster bubble heading into last season, and without the injury, he might have been more of a trade piece rather than someone they kept on the roster. Assuming he can get back to full health, Smith’s prospects for a roster spot look more promising, especially with the recent release of Zah Frazier. That said, he has plenty to prove in the coming months.
- Josh Blackwell
Blackwell is one of the team’s top special teams performers, and for that, his job is likely safe regardless of what he does on the defensive side of the ball. That said, it was mildly disappointing not to see him get a chance to build on previous seasons in the nickel with Gordon missing the majority of last season. Maybe Dennis Allen changes his approach this season, and with Gordon expected to miss the next few weeks, it would be a prime opportunity for Blackwell to carve out a role as the primary reserve at nickel.
5. Long snapper hasn’t been a focus since the days of Patrick Mannelly, but how confident are the Bears that they have their Week 1 “starter” on the roster?
Let’s be honest here- Long snapper is only ever noticeable when a player is bad. While I’m not saying that will be the case here, the Bears opted to let Scott Daly sign in Tampa Bay, while allowing two former undrafted free agents to battle it out for the open job. In theory, I have little issue with the approach, but it’s worth noting that neither player has taken a snap in an NFL game before.
I’ll be the first to admit that I have no idea how to evaluate a long snapper, but the two players have drastically different physical profiles.
Luke Elkin spent the preseason with the team after his time at Iowa, before ending up on the Raiders’ practice squad for the final two games of the season. The Bears later re-signed him on a futures deal, so although he has experience with the organization, the majority of his Year 1 in the NFL was spent without a spot on any team’s roster. At 6’1, 235, he’s the considerably smaller player of the two, although that hasn’t stopped others from succeeding at the NFL level.
Beau Gardner was recently signed as an undrafted free agent after six collegiate seasons and two Patrick Mannelly Award finalist recognitions to his name. Gardner is the considerably bigger player at 6’5, 249, and has a high school background as a defensive lineman.
Only time will tell who ends up winning the job, but despite Elkin’s extra year in the league, both players are coming in with the same amount of NFL regular-season experience. Don’t be surprised if the team is keeping tabs on additional veterans, especially once they conclude their offseason program following the conclusion of mandatory mini-camp.
