2026 Chicago Bears Offseason Thread

[Rcal10]

7 minutes ago, Radar3454 said:

Byard to the pats for 1/9. Would have liked him back for that no doubt

So it appears the Bears let Wright and Byrd go more on their belief the performance of those two would regress more than the money they wanted. Bears could have easily taken them back instead of pivoting to other players. So, I guess, that means the Bears feel they improved their defense by getting different guys. 🤷 Sure hope they are right. 

[Old Style]

Shocked we weren’t willing to pay Byard &9MM for 1 year. The FO decisions have been somewhat vexing to me. 

[gflore34]

1 hour ago, Old Style said:

Shocked we weren’t willing to pay Byard &9MM for 1 year. The FO decisions have been somewhat vexing to me. 

I'm okay with it, don't have to squint too hard to see players such as Byard and Wright regressing.  Let some other teams give them a big pay day they won't perform up to.

[NorthsideAvenger]

Jedrick Wills, Jr, 1 year deal. Braxton Jones competition. 

Edited March 11 by NorthsideAvenger

[The_Achiever]

4 minutes ago, NorthsideAvenger said:

Jedrick Wills, Jr, 1 year deal. Braxton Jones competition. 

Anyone named after our intrepid Cubs GM is a welcome addition to me.  

[BigSlick]

Would have loved Byard back, but I'm not too gutted he's gone.

Feels like the market spoke on Nahshon Wright's value: all 32 teams basically think his season last year was a fluke. Let's hope they're right, because he could have been gotten back for real cheap. (I do think Tyrique is a better all-around corner than him, and I hope he isn't in the doghouse for no reason). 

[The_Achiever]

We'll still need to draft a S but I'd take Brisker back on something reasonable.  Has to be 1- year deal, can't hurt to have a guy who will go kamikaze when necessary.  

[Tryptamine]

This is a very strong safety draft. Draft your safety of the future with the 2nd 2nd round pick or the 3rd round pick. Sadly I think we're mostly horsefeathered for left tackle in this draft, so the rest of the focus needs to be on EDGE and DT.

[Geographyhater8888]

16 hours ago, Old Style said:

Shocked we weren’t willing to pay Byard &9MM for 1 year. The FO decisions have been somewhat vexing to me. 

I think Allen wants more speed at safety and will address it through the draft. It’s much easier though to make sense of replacing Brisker with Bryant because of his positional versatility and he’s much better in coverage.

These defenders brought in are scheme fits more than lateral moves.  

 

Edited March 12 by Geographyhater8888

[Geographyhater8888]

10 hours ago, Tryptamine said:

This is a very strong safety draft. Draft your safety of the future with the 2nd 2nd round pick or the 3rd round pick. Sadly I think we're mostly horsefeathered for left tackle in this draft, so the rest of the focus needs to be on EDGE and DT.

If they knew free safety would be a need this year then Xavier Watts would’ve been really nice at 62 instead of that rotational lineman with a metal rod in his leg. 

Edited March 12 by Geographyhater8888

[Geographyhater8888]

16 hours ago, Rcal10 said:

So it appears the Bears let Wright and Byrd go more on their belief the performance of those two would regress more than the money they wanted. Bears could have easily taken them back instead of pivoting to other players. So, I guess, that means the Bears feel they improved their defense by getting different guys. 🤷 Sure hope they are right. 

Wright was a liability in coverage and a glorified Zach Bowman, feasting off terrible quarterbacks in my opinion. They’re replacing Flus’s guys more than anything outside of Wright. They’ll stay a ****** unit with of without Byard unless they hit on d line at 25.

Edited March 12 by Geographyhater8888

[gflore34]

15 hours ago, NorthsideAvenger said:

Jedrick Wills, Jr, 1 year deal. Braxton Jones competition. 

I like it, pedigree is there, coming off an MCL injury, signed to a one year prove it deal.  They'll add someone in the draft between this and the acquisitions I believe the OL will be fine.

[Rex Buckingham]

1 hour ago, Geographyhater8888 said:

Wright was a liability in coverage and a glorified Zach Bowman, feasting off terrible quarterbacks in my opinion. They’re replacing Flus’s guys more than anything outside of Wright. They’ll stay a ****** unit with of without Byard unless they hit on d line at 25.

Wright made plenty of legitimately good plays, the dude has ball skills. But I'm also not shocked they let him go

[Wilson A2000]

Losing your starting corner, a PB safety, a LB, your PB center, your LT, and your #1 WR is not a good start to the offseason

[BigSlick]

14 minutes ago, Wilson A2000 said:

Losing your starting corner, a PB safety, a LB, your PB center, your LT, and your #1 WR is not a good start to the offseason

This is all distorted to make it seem worse than it is: Nahshon Wright wasn’t a starter, he was your 4th corner who played well, the linebacker in question was outplayed by his back up (and we signed someone who’s also pro bowl quality for cheaper) the receiver was our 3rd or 4th option by the end of the season and we got a 2nd round pick for hin, we signed a younger safety who was on the best defense to replace the older one. 
 

the only things I’m not happy with (yet!) is how we’re replacing Trapilo and Dalman, both unforeseen and unplanned losses. But we haven’t even gotten a week into FA or into the draft yet. I’m not shocked they didn’t have big moves to help those areas yet. 

[Brian707]

28 minutes ago, Wilson A2000 said:

Losing your starting corner, a PB safety, a LB, your PB center, your LT, and your #1 WR is not a good start to the offseason

Its not as bad as your doom posting seems 

[Banedon]

[jersey cubs fan]

23 minutes ago, BigSlick said:

 

the only things I’m not happy with (yet!) is how we’re replacing Trapilo and Dalman, both unforeseen and unplanned losses. But we haven’t even gotten a week into FA or into the draft yet. I’m not shocked they didn’t have big moves to help those areas yet. 

Dalman was unplanned. When the Bears first became aware of his lack of commitment to the organization is unknown, but still largely unforeseen, absolutely. 
 

Trapilo was known to be out two months before free agency. It was foreseen and should have been planned for 

[gflore34]

21 minutes ago, Brian707 said:

Its not as bad as your doom posting seems 

With previous coaching staffs yes, it's as bad as it seems.  With this coaching staff? No.  They'll find viable solutions and the OL will be decent.

[Wilson A2000]

1 hour ago, BigSlick said:

This is all distorted to make it seem worse than it is: Nahshon Wright wasn’t a starter, he was your 4th corner who played well, the linebacker in question was outplayed by his back up (and we signed someone who’s also pro bowl quality for cheaper) the receiver was our 3rd or 4th option by the end of the season and we got a 2nd round pick for hin, we signed a younger safety who was on the best defense to replace the older one. 
 

the only things I’m not happy with (yet!) is how we’re replacing Trapilo and Dalman, both unforeseen and unplanned losses. But we haven’t even gotten a week into FA or into the draft yet. I’m not shocked they didn’t have big moves to help those areas yet. 

Wright wasn’t your 4th corner. He was the starter for most of the season. Stevenson got benched for him. I think Wright was 3rd in snap counts on defense. 

[We Got The Whole 9]

Braxton had a 80 pass block grade and 70 run block in 2024. They think him at 100% for 1/10 is a better investment than the LT that were available. Personally I dont hate it, but I know hes very unpopular. Hopefully Benedet comes in with a strong camp and pushes the competition. I know Ben wont tolerate the mental miscues Braxton frequently commits.

[Geographyhater8888]

34 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

 I know Ben wont tolerate the mental miscues Braxton frequently commits.

That explains why they traded for Bradbury.  

Edited March 12 by Geographyhater8888

[Cubs420psd]

Looking a little ahead to the draft, the name I like most at 25 right now is Cashius Howell. Hes a little undersized and has short arms but the dude can rush the passer. His quirkiness and bend are impressive.

[Old Style]

1 hour ago, Cubs420psd said:

Looking a little ahead to the draft, the name I like most at 25 right now is Cashius Howell. Hes a little undersized and has short arms but the dude can rush the passer. His quirkiness and bend are impressive.

As an Aggie, I would love to add Cash to the defense. 

[MidoreX]

5 minutes ago, Old Style said:

As an Aggie, I would love to add Cash to the defense. 

I like him too, but no way DA wants a t-rex at edge