Let’s wrap up our yearly Chicago Bears rumors article series, talking about the defense and how they plan to change this side of the ball for 2026.
If you haven’t seen the other articles in this series, this is the fourth and final installment. This article covers the general buzz about the Bears from Super Bowl week. This article covers the rumors surrounding the stadium from Super Bowl week. Finally, the third article in the series covered rumors about the offense, including the future of DJ Moore.
Let’s talk about the defense. The consensus from those in the know in San Francisco is that this is the area of the team that’s going to get a pretty significant facelift. Most likely, the Bears are going to tweak the offensive side of the ball, and the thought is that the Bears are going to overhaul the defensive side of the ball.
I didn’t get much concrete information about the secondary. Most people expect Kevin Byard to be back in Chicago at an affordable deal. A couple of people expected Jaquan Brisker to return, but the majority felt that he would most likely be in a different uniform in 2026.
Most expected Nashon Wright not to return, but largely because some team will overpay him coming off a Pro Bowl season, not based on anything with the Bears. The idea I got is that the Bears would like to keep him, but the expectation is that it will be cost-prohibitive.
I didn’t find one person who thought Tremaine Edmunds would return this upcoming season. I also got the idea that the Bears wouldn’t mind moving on from TJ Edwards as well, but that it didn’t make much sense financially, and that Edwards, being an off-ball linebacker who is 30 years old and coming off a significant injury, has no trade value. Edwards will most likely be here in 2026 because of what was laid out above, but will almost certainly be gone in 2027. Edwards feels like another extension they’d like to have back, although I didn’t hear that directly, just the feeling I got talking to people.
Of course, we saved the best for last. Defensive Line.
I expect a major overhaul of the defensive line. I think the Bears are going to attack this like they attacked the offensive line last offseason.
I think if the Bears can get an injury settlement with Dayo Odeyingbo, they will do that and get him off the roster. He didn’t play well last year. Who knows how much he’s going to play in 2026? Whatever he does play, he’s going to be compromised coming off that injury, and he has no guaranteed money in 2027. It makes very little sense to keep him, but that depends on what they can accomplish, since he has plenty of guaranteed money coming his way in 2026.
Andrew Billings won’t be on the team next year. That seems a certainty.
I think Montez Sweat will return, and I think the Bears are confident enough that I expect him to be one of the contracts they restructure, pushing guarantees down the road and signifying that they will be keeping him through his contract. It wouldn’t shock me if they tacked a year on his contract, either to spread out the cap hits.
It doesn’t seem like the Bears are too high on Gervon Dexter, but he will return and be a part of the team’s IDL rotation. There is hope that Shemar Turner will be a much bigger contributor next year as well. I got the feeling that the Bears are pretty high on Austin Booker, but it seems like they would still rather have him as a DE3 than a starting edge.
I think the Bears want to add multiple new pieces to the defensive line, but one significant piece up front. Trey Hendrickson and Maxx Crosby are, of course, the two biggest names that people have been discussing, but I think if the Bears find themselves a 3-Tech that they love and can bring in, they would beef up the interior and not worry about spending big at edge.
I heard plenty of dot-connecting between the Bears and Trey Hendrickson due to the Dennis Allen tie, but I didn’t hear anything about the Bears definitely being in on him.
Maxx Crosby was the name that the media center was talking about all week long.
The joke at the media center was that every team was in pursuit of Maxx Crosby because it was comical how many different teams had been tied to Crosby.
Yes, the Bears are one of them.
I think it’s way too early to get even remotely excited about that because it was silly how many teams were tied to him at this point, and there’s absolutely a chance that Crosby stays in Las Vegas, despite what all the reports are.
Crosby is definitely upset with the organization right now, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be repaired. He has a good relationship with Mark Davis, so there is a chance he isn’t moved.
I talked to some people connected to the Raiders about what it might take. Neither of them felt that the first two round picks were going to be attainable due to Crosby’s age. If someone offers 2 firsts, the Raiders will probably just take the offer and not look back.
One person said that he felt it would take Darnell Wright and a first-round pick to get the deal done. I think that’s silly. The Bears would never do that. Other people had a more reasonable approach.
Now, in my previous article, I talked about how DJ Moore had very little trade value as a standalone asset, but if he was used as part of a trade for Crosby, his value definitely becomes more interesting.
While Moore may not be the equivalent of adding a second-round pick or anything like that, he could be of interest to the Raiders, presuming they are taking Fernando Mendoza, to get a reliable pass catcher in there for him.
A group of DJ Moore, Brock Bowers, Ashton Jeanty, and Tre Tucker is a pretty good group of skill position players to put around a rookie quarterback, if they can fix the offensive line.
Talking to one person connected to the Raiders, he felt the Bears’ 2026 1st, a 2027 day two pick, and DJ Moore (especially if the Bears ate some money and dropped his salary to about $18 million), is something the Raiders would strongly consider. I think that’s an offer the Bears would have to strongly consider as well.
It feels like the Bears’ defensive plan is to try to bring in one splash defender that can act as a multiplier around him, and then add a couple mid-level defenders as well. I think we could see 4 or 5 new starters (maybe even 6) on the defensive side of the ball this upcoming season.
