Chicago Bears receive questionable offseason grade from NFL Media

The Chicago Bears entered the offseason wanting to take a step forward with quarterback Caleb Williams still on a rookie contract and having won the NFC North in Ben Johnson’s first year as head coach.

Center Drew Dalman threw the Bears a curveball by retiring at 27. Chicago immediately found a replacement by trading with the New England Patriots for Garrett Bradbury and then drafting Logan Jones in the second round.

The Bears lost several starters from the defense last season and traded away receiver DJ Moore. But with Luther Burden III, Rome Odunze, and Colston Loveland, Chicago could afford to lose Moore and still have plenty of options for Williams to target in the passing game.

Matt Okada of NFL Media gave the Bears an offseason grade of “B-” for 2026, arguing the team did just enough to keep the status quo, though they have much to do if they want to become a Super Bowl threat.

“Unfortunately, the most notable piece of Chicago’s offseason so far was the exodus in the defensive backfield,” Okada wrote. “CB Nahshon Wright and safeties Kevin Byard, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Jaquan Brisker, and Jonathan Owens all departed in free agency. The Bears largely filled the gaps by signing (Coby) Bryant and (Devin) Bush, who will help replace Tremaine Edmunds, and by drafting Dillon Thieneman 25th overall.

“But dedicating such a big chunk of their resources to that end limited their ability to improve the roster elsewhere. Chicago picked up a second-round pick by trading Moore to the Bills, but then proceeded to trade down from that selection to pick up players unlikely to have a major impact in the immediate future.

“It feels like, at best, the Bears maintained the status quo this offseason, and might have lost a bit of ground in a tight division.”

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The Bears should theoretically be better in the secondary with a healthy Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon (though Gordon missed OTAs with a soft tissue injury).

The real problem for the Bears is the lack of elite edge defenders to generate a pass rush. Chicago needs to sign a defensive end or trade for one before the deadline if they want to make a run for the Super Bowl.

No doubt, the Los Angeles Rams are the best team on paper in the NFC. The Bears have a ways to go to catch them after trading for defensive end Myles Garrett. (The Rams could sign defensive tackle Aaron Donald out of retirement.)

The rest of the NFC North has serious roster problems. The Green Bay Packers should be without Micah Parsons for much of the season. The Detroit Lions lost a lot of starters due to cap reasons and then released Terrion Arnold amid his arrest.

The Bears should be the favorites to win the division, but they haven’t done enough yet to put the team in position to win a Super Bowl, something that should be a priority before they negotiate Williams’ contract after the season.

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