Chicago Bears Offseason Preview

This is the fifth installment of an ongoing series of offseason previews.

2025 Season in a Nutshell

Not every Bears game came down to an end-of-game, fourth-and-eternity half-court off-the-back-foot Caleb Williams buzzer beater, resulting in either a touchdown or an interception in the end zone. Only their most memorable games ended that way. And there were a lot of them.

Coaching Situation

Without a doubt, Ben Johnson turned out to be the best first-year coach to instill a winning culture, get a bunch of free agents and rookies to work together, develop a sophomore quarterback into a star and catapult his team from worst to first west of I-91.

Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle …

… left on the rocky road to Baltimore, but Johnson was the Bears’ game-planner and play caller. Dennis Allen returns after a fine season as defensive coordinator. Johnson is fortunate that his staff wasn’t totally gutted.

Quarterback Situation

Early in the season, Caleb Williams could make impossible throws but struggled to make the easy ones. By the playoffs, Williams could make both the impossible and easy throws – and was a dangerous, timely scrambler – but still struggled with some of the intermediate ones.

Considering that Williams was either unable or unwilling to operate a DVD player this time last year, even the ever-grouchy Johnson must be thrilled by Williams’ development.

State of the Roster

There’s exciting youth at the skill positions: Luther Burden, Colston Loveland, Kyle Monangai. The veteran-heavy offensive line (Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman, Jonah Jackson, Darnell Wright) has surpassed the Lions and Eagles lines to become one of the NFL’s best.

Cornerbacks Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, Nashon Wright and Tyrique Stevenson were rarely healthy at the same time last year. The defensive line is the closest thing to a weak link on the roster, and it’s not that bad.

Cap and Draft Stuff

The Bears have a $5 million cap deficit which they will erase by noodling with the Thuney and Jackson contracts while trimming skill-position veterans like D’Andre Swift and (perhaps) Cole Kmet.

Assuming the Bears let Kevin Byard (old) and C.J. Gardner-Johnson (total asshole) leave as free agents, Wright may be their highest-priority in-house free agent. The Bears should have some flexibility to go shopping for help on the defensive line or elsewhere if they choose.

The Bears hold the 25th, 57th and 89th picks in the first three rounds of the 2026 draft.

One Thing the Bears Should Do

There are a lot of connect-the-dots rumors circulating about the Bears signing Trey Hendrickson, who played for Dennis Allen in New Orleans. It’s probably just offseason clickbait and prattle. But the Bears should absolutely go for it.

In Summary

The next step can be a lulu for a sudden contender like the Bears. Just ask the Commanders, who were sitting in this same catbird seat last offseason. Johnson’s program appears to be the real deal, however, and Williams’ improvement was broad-based enough to convince a hardened skeptic.

A tactical addition like Hendrickson on the defensive front wouldn’t hurt, but the Bears should avoid the all-in tactics and rhetoric that helped sink the Commanders in 2025. These Bears are built to improve and grow organically. The smartest thing Johnson can do is to just keep doing what he’s been doing.