The Chicago Bears are coming off their best season since the 2018 season. For the past three seasons, the Bears have been named “the offseason champions,” which means they had the best offseason for multiple years. This past season was the first time they put all those pieces together to make the playoffs once again. This was the first season under new head coach Ben Johnson who seems to be a slam dunk hire for the team.
The Bears made several coaching changes,hiring Press Taylor, the former passing game coordinator to offensive coordinator. Taylor was the former Jaguars offensive coordinator; He played a pivotal role in Caleb Williams’ breakout second season. Taylor will replace Declan Doyle, who departs for the Ravens, in his offensive coordinator role. Taylor will not be the primary play caller this upcoming season as that will be handled by head coach Ben Johnson. The Bears also hired Eric Studesville as their running backs coach, Will Lawing as their offensive analyst and Isaiah Ford as their offensive quality control.
The Bears primary focus the past offseason has been to rebuild. Now, GM Ryan Poles says their focus is to “maintain a contender.” The Bears made multiple roster changes early in the offseason. They are allowing veteran linebacker Tremaine Edmunds permission to seek a trade. Edmunds has been defensive cornerstone for the Bears since 2023 but his sizable contract has become one that the Bears cannot afford as they are facing a tight salary cap. The Bears currently have zero safeties under roster for the 2026 season as Kevin Byard III and Jaquan Brisker are pending free agents this offseason. Fans hold hope that Byard will return, while Brisker has been sourced to not return for the next season and will look for a new home.
Along with roster and coaching differences, the Bears front office has been making changes. The Bears lost assistant General Manager, Ian Cunningham, to the Atlanta Falcons. They followed this move by promoting Jeff King to assistant GM. King was a very trusted voice throughout the Ben Johnson hiring last season.
This week starts the NFL combine, which is a showcase of all the best college athletes showing their talents to multiple teams. The Bears have the 25th pick in this year’s draft and expressed interest in taking an interior lineman with that pick. They’re looking for a “3-technique” tackle to create more pressure alongside veteran Montez Sweat. With the offseason just beginning the Bears will continue to make moves both in the draft and in free agency.
