Just one month remains in the 2026 offseason for the Chicago Bears before the entire team returns to Halas Hall for the start of training camp. And for the first time in quite a few years, the Bears were not overwhelming winners of the fictional offseason trophy.
Coming off an impressive 11-6 season under first-year head coach Ben Johnson and a budding young corps of players led by quarterback Caleb Williams, the Bears retooled their roster but didn’t need to overhaul like they did in previous years. General manager Ryan Poles had plenty of continuity, minus the departure of assistant general manager Ian Cunningham and coaches such as offensive coordinator Declan Doyle.
Their offseason free agency spending consisted of only a few splash moves, while they cleared salary cap space by sending wide receiver DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for a second-round pick. And they prioritized finding the right types of athletes in the draft instead of zeroing in on positions of need.
Now that all of the dust has settled and the countdown to training camp is on, here are 10 takeaways from the 2026 Bears offseason:
1. This upcoming season is not “Super Bowl or bust”
Going into the offseason, the Bears didn’t have the same flexibility from a salary cap perspective as they had in prior years. All of their spending and major acquisitions finally depleted their salary cap space for the time being, just as the team turned a corner with their performance on the field. Still, there are ways to circumvent the cap, and it was possible the Bears could push all of their chips in with either a big signing or a blockbuster trade to help put them over the top. Neither of those took place in the spring.
The lack of action tells me that the front office believes this is not the time to go “all in” and mortgage the future for a Super Bowl run, despite the fact players such as Caleb Williams, Colston Loveland, Rome Odunze, and Luther Burden III are all on rookie deals. Chicago opted to maintain the course and continue to build around their core with affordable signings and trades for more draft picks instead of marquee players—particularly on the defensive line. They missed out on stars like Maxx Crosby, Dexter Lawrence, and Myles Garrett to give themselves more flexibility going forward. Any one of those moves would be seen as a sign they are ready to make a Super Bowl run. Right or wrong, Poles is content with keeping the status quo going into 2026. Perhaps 2027 will be the year they push all their chips in.
2. The Bears did well navigating Drew Dalman’s retirement
Most Bears fans can probably tell you where they were when they heard the news that Pro Bowl center Drew Dalman had retired. The news came as a shock to everyone considering Dalman was just 27 years old, had signed a three-year deal to join Chicago just one year earlier, and stayed healthy throughout the 2025 season. Suddenly, free agency and the draft looked much different with what the Bears needed to do to replace such an integral part of their offense. And to their credit, they did extremely well.
First, Poles managed to acquire veteran Garrett Bradbury from the New England Patriots in exchange for a 2027 fifth-round pick. Bradbury is an experienced center and can hold down the position, especially playing next to guards like Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson. And his salary cap number is just $4.7 million, making him extremely affordable.
Weeks later, the Bears doubled down at the position in the draft, selecting Logan Jones out of Iowa with their first of two picks in the second round. Jones is an older prospect but fits the mold of what Johnson is looking for on the offensive line and can develop behind Bradbury in the short term.
Though the Bears believed they found their center of the present and future in Dalman, they worked quickly to solve the position in the present and the future. It’s a situation they didn’t expect to be in, but give credit to Poles and Johnson for how they handled things.
3. The defense got younger and more athletic
The 2025 Bears defense was elite at taking the ball away, forcing 33 turnovers—a league high last season. Kevin Byard, Nahshon Wright, and Tremaine Edmunds alone combined for 16 interceptions to help Chicago achieve an 11-6 record. And what did the Bears do to build off that success? They said goodbye to all three players and then some to rework the unit.
Though the Bears had excellent turnover luck last year, it wasn’t indicative of how much the unit struggled when they weren’t taking the ball away. So instead of re-signing Byard, Wright, Jaquan Brisker, and CJ Gardner-Johnson and hanging onto Edmunds, they opted to get younger and more athletic. Safety Coby Bryant, fresh off his Super Bowl LX championship, was the splashy signing of free agency, while the Bears also brought in linebacker Devin Bush and drafted defensive backs Dillon Thieneman and Malik Muhammad. They all bring youth and athleticism to the back seven of the defense for the foreseeable future.
Poles and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen were calculated in how they reshaped the back of the defense. It could take time for all of these pieces to gel as they join holdovers like Jaylon Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson, and Kyler Gordon, but they’re counting on these additions to do more than just take the ball away in 2026.
4. Kyler Gordon appears to be on thin ice
It’s extremely difficult to find yourself in the doghouse during the NFL offseason, but somehow Kyler Gordon has managed to do just that. After a frustrating and injury-riddled 2025 season that caused him to miss double-digit games, Gordon had a chance to get a fresh start under Johnson to show he’s still capable of being a defensive cornerstone. The coach said so himself.
Instead, Gordon has missed even more time due to injuries while offseason workouts took place, and Johnson is sounding like he’s fed up with his cornerback’s lack of availability. “We know he’s a good player when he’s out there, but trust level is a huge thing for this team, for this coaching staff, for the locker room and you can only develop that trust by being available,” Johnson told the media back in early June. Gordon signed a three-year contract extension that kicks in this year, so he’s not going anywhere in 2026. But if he continues to miss time, the Bears won’t waste time and look for a replacement to take his spot. Perhaps even rookie Malik Muhammad gets extended looks at nickel corner later in training camp.
5. Caleb Williams has vaulted to NFL stardom
Every few years or so, a Bears quarterback will make it into the NFL’s marketing materials going into a season. Justin Fields and Jay Cutler once had commercials, while Mitchell Trubisky was a featured player in NBC’s Sunday Night Football intro. Those moments were fleeting and were few and far between. But for Caleb Williams, his spotlight is only getting bigger and brighter.
Williams has officially become one of the poster players for the NFL going into the 2026 season. His highlights have been recirculated across NFL social media accounts, his likeness featured in the league’s schedule release materials, and of course, he became the cover athlete for Madden 27. Williams has been everywhere this offseason thanks to his breakthrough season in 2025. Don’t expect the hype to die down anytime soon.
6. This will be Cole Kmet’s last season in Chicago
When the Bears drafted Colston Loveland in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, many believed Kmet’s days as a Bear were over. Those discussions were premature considering Loveland and Kmet complement one another well with their different skillsets, and they performed their roles well in 2025. Kmet was able to stick around going into the 2026 season, but this one will actually be his last.
The Bears targeted another big tight end early in the draft when they selected Sam Roush out of Stanford on Day 2. Unlike Loveland, Roush is more of a traditional “Y” tight end like Kmet and will be competing with the veteran for snaps and targets—even when the offense goes into 12 and 13 personnel. The front office also reworked Kmet’s contract this offseason, pushing his cap hit to $15 million but allowing the team to save $10 million next season if he’s cut.
Kmet is still just 27 years old and has missed only one game during his six-year career. He’s still in his prime and can be a quality player at his position for years to come. He has a place on this team in 2026, but all signs point to him landing with a new squad for the 2027 season.
7. The Bears still believe in Braxton Jones
When the Bears exited the field for the final time during the 2025/2026 season, left tackle Braxton Jones was in street clothes despite getting activated off injured reserve. He had worked his way back following a knee injury earlier in the year, but the Bears felt more confident in shifting Joe Thuney over to play left tackle following Ozzy Trapilo’s serious leg injury from a week earlier.
On the surface, it appeared the Bears weren’t interested in bringing back Jones and would take their chances with someone else in free agency or the draft. But that wasn’t the case. The Bears re-signed Jones in free agency to a one-year deal with the chance to show he can regain his form from the first couple years of his career. And throughout offseason programs, Jones seems to be the early frontrunner for the starting job while competing with Jedrick Wills and Kiran Amegadjie. There is still a long way to go, and the players haven’t even put on the pads yet, but Jones is in a good position going into the summer. The Bears still believe in what he can bring to the table, and this could be the bounceback he needs while protecting Williams’ blind side.
8. The NFL is counting on the Bears continuing their success
So much for sitting down to watch the Bears every single Sunday afternoon. Those days are long gone now that the team is putting out a desirable product on the field. The NFL wants to showcase the Bears this year, and they will be scattered throughout the week.
Chicago has seven standalone or prime-time games this year, including spots on Thanksgiving and Christmas. This will be the first time the Bears have ever played on both holidays in the same season. There are also two Monday Night Football games, one Thursday Night Football matchup, a Sunday Night Football game, and a Saturday night standalone game late in the season.
If you like having a routine, this season will test your limits. But that’s the price to pay when the team you root for turns a corner and has success. Especially a team as marketable as the Bears.
9. Missing out on compensatory picks is still aggravating
The NFL’s decision to not award the Bears any compensatory picks for losing Ian Cunningham to the Atlanta Falcons as their new general manager is still baffling. If the league isn’t going to abide by the system they put in place, then it needs to be abolished. And each move made by Cunningham only amplifies the poor decision the NFL made. It’s as if the league would rather brush this under the table than admit they made a mistake in prematurely declaring Matt Ryan the primary football executive.
It’s a shame the topic of conversation has been focused on the lack of draft picks instead of celebrating Cunningham’s promotion as a minority executive, but the league made this mess. Too bad they won’t ever clean it up.
10. The stadium saga has hung around like a dark cloud
Perhaps the biggest takeaway of the offseason, for once, has absolutely nothing to do with any players, coaches, or anyone related to the on-field product. For all of the talk about building a new defensive line, Williams’ ascent, and the 2026 draft picks, none of it holds a candle to the never-ending story that is the Bears’ pursuit of a new state-of-the-art stadium.
The project, now entering its fifth year of development, has been all talk with little action. The Bears have two potential sites in play for their new home (Arlington Heights and Hammond, Indiana) and are playing cat and mouse with two state governments hanging in the balance. What was once viewed as an exciting new beginning has devolved into one of the worst stories in Chicago sports history. And it’s all coming off one of the best regular seasons fans have witnessed in years.
Everyone has a different culprit for why things have failed to move forward in Illinois. Some believe it’s the Bears; others say the politicians. Both sides have had missteps in this never-ending saga, and it’s truly a shame that this has become the primary talking point of the team. If not for Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams, the Bears would be the laughingstock of the league both on and off the field. Personally, I hope the Bears remain in Illinois and believe cooler heads will prevail while they “focus” on Hammond. But until actual development starts taking place, all of this will keep being noise.
Bonus: The NFL Draft will never be the same
My own personal takeaway from the 2026 offseason wasn’t anything the Bears did. It was the new addition for me and my family, which happened to take place during the NFL Draft. Just hours before the Bears made their selection of Dillon Thieneman in the first round, my wife and I welcomed our first child into the world—a baby girl.
Having gotten just about 40 minutes of sleep and trying to adjust to this tiny human in our hospital room, I watched as the Bears selected Thieneman with excitement for both the team and my family. And it would be great to see the young man from Oregon pan out so we can get my daughter a jersey in a few years.
I’m used to hunkering down in my football bunker for the draft while covering it over the course of a long weekend. This year, I was as disconnected as ever while bringing home our little girl and entering our new normal as a family.
When the 2027 NFL Draft arrives next year, I’m sure I will be back to covering it like I always have. But going forward, the draft will always be a reminder of when my life changed for the better. And I won’t need to wait three years to know we came out as absolute winners.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: 10 takeaways from the 2026 Bears offseason
