Without checking, this might be the latest in the season I\u2019ve done my first mock Bears offseason. It\u2019s been for good reason, too: they\u2019ve clinched a playoff spot with two games left to go in the 2025 regular season, and they\u2019re 1.5 games ahead in first place in the NFC North.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a fantastic breakout season for the Bears in Ben Johnson\u2019s first year as their head coach. They\u2019ve gotten hot in two separate stretches, as they have both four-game and five-game winning streaks to their name so far this season. At 11-4, they\u2019ve exceeded expectations and have restored winning football back to Chicago.<\/p>\n
In addition to the more important task at hand of seeing how the Bears will do in the playoffs in their first appearance since 2020, I\u2019m also interested in seeing how they\u2019ll manage this coming offseason. The last remnants of their 2023 trade with the Panthers came through with the second-round pick that became Luther Burden III in 2025, and they don\u2019t have much cap space to speak of. That will present general manager Ryan Poles an interesting challenge for how he approaches free agency.<\/p>\n
I hardly consider myself a cap expert, so please bear with me. That said, I pride myself on my NFL Draft preparations, and having (nearly) weekly Bears tape breakdowns on my Patreon<\/a>, I\u2019m confident I have an understanding of what the Bears\u2019 strengths and weaknesses are this season. With a limited amount of cap space to work with, I found it a fun challenge to create my first 2026 Bears mock offseason.<\/p>\n This article features plenty of salary cap manipulation, which is reflective of what Chicago will have to do this offseason. The numbers probably won\u2019t be perfect, which is why I\u2019ve given myself some wiggle room as far as how much cap space I need to be left standing with after my free agency signings.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t have the Bears making a splash trade for someone like Myles Garrett or Maxx Crosby because of that lack of cap knowledge certainty, and I don\u2019t have them signing Trey Hendrickson for that reason, either. That said, I think Chicago comes out looking solid after my 2026 mock offseason.<\/p>\n Existing cap space:<\/strong> $1.241 million<\/p>\n Cuts, trades & contract restructuring<\/p>\n Going over the Bears\u2019 existing contracts, there are only three players that really stand out as cut candidate to free up significant cap space: D\u2019Andre Swift, Cole Kmet, and Tremaine Edmunds. Before this season started, I figured that at least two of them (particularly Swift and Edmunds) would be cap casualties, given that their play hadn\u2019t lived up to the expectations caused by the salaries they make.<\/p>\n However, I decided against releasing those players, since both Swift and Edmunds have bounced back significantly in 2025. Kmet is the only one I could restructure, though, since 2026 isn\u2019t the last year of his current contract (it is for both Swift and Edmunds). Therefore, I restructured Kmet and kicked a little over $4 million into next year. There\u2019s a chance the Bears could still cut or trade him, but I like how he\u2019s embraced his new role in Ben Johnson\u2019s offense. He\u2019s still a valuable target with good blocking value.<\/p>\n My other two restructures, Drew Dalman and Jaylon Johnson, are two players I feel confident investing in beyond 2026. Dalman was recently named to the first Pro Bowl of his career, and Johnson had made consecutive Pro Bowls prior to an injury-shortened 2025.<\/p>\n With these three restructures, I am saving the amount of cap space mentioned in the bullet points and adding it onto each of their contracts in 2027. They\u2019re currently on track to have over $53.6 million in cap space in 2027, so they have plenty to maneuver with at this juncture. Besides, I have a move in mind that can not only save $24.5 million in 2026 cap, but it can also bring Chicago to nearly $57 million in 2027 cap space, even when you include those three restructures.<\/p>\n The toughest decision here is trading DJ Moore. I thought long and hard about whether or not the Bears should keep Moore, especially considering how he\u2019s stepped up in recent weeks in the absences of Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III. That said, he\u2019s currently the eighth-ranked wide receiver in the NFL in 2026 cap hit. Going into Week 17, he\u2019s 38th among wide receivers in receptions and 33th at his position in receiving yards. From that perspective, he isn\u2019t living up to his current salary.<\/p>\n I chose the Tennessee Titans as a landing spot for Moore for three reasons. One, their wide receivers coach is Tyke Tolbert, who was the Bears\u2019 wide receivers coach in 2023 when Moore had a career-high 1,364 receiving yards. Two, they\u2019ve seen encouraging growth from Cam Ward in recent weeks, but their team\u2019s lack of success points to how limited their current talent is. In particular, none of their wide receivers have over 430 yards through 15 games.<\/p>\n Three, the Titans are currently projected by OverTheCap<\/a> at over $105 million in cap space in 2026, which is the most in the NFL. If anyone could afford to take on the remaining $20 million in Moore\u2019s deal that the Bears wouldn\u2019t eat in dead cap space, it\u2019s them. Even with his down numbers in 2025, I\u2019d take Moore for that price over any other wide receiver at that money slated to hit free agency, save for George Pickens.<\/p>\n Would you rather throw that kind of money at a receiver like Deebo Samuel or Jauan Jennings this offseason, or would you rather make a low-risk trade for Moore? I\u2019d know my answer if I were Tennessee.<\/p>\n In doing this move, you\u2019re trusting that Odunze and Burden develop in 2025. That\u2019s a bet I\u2019m willing to take, given the physical upside both of them possess and the flashes they\u2019ve shown this season. In particular, I think Burden is in line for a much bigger role in 2026 than what he\u2019s had this season. Keeping Cole Kmet alongside Colston Loveland and D\u2019Andre Swift mean the Bears would still have a pretty talented group of pass-catching weapons after trading Moore, too.<\/p>\n With that extra money saved, the Bears would still have plenty of cap space to extend someone like Darnell Wright, Gervon Dexter, Tremaine Edmunds, D\u2019Andre Swift, or Tyrique Stevenson. I don\u2019t think every single one of those players get extended, but given the fact that the first year of extensions usually have lighter cap hits, you could certainly afford one or two.<\/p>\n Besides, worst case scenario, the Bears have reasonable 2027 outs in the contracts of Dayo Odeyingbo, Grady Jarrett, Montez Sweat, and T.J. Edwards. That\u2019s a combined $48.75 million in possible cap space they could create for themselves. They likely won\u2019t cut all of those players, but they could certain exercise some of those outs to free up even more future money for themselves.<\/p>\n Updated cap space:<\/strong> $45.168 million<\/p>\n First and foremost, I wanted to get ahead of Darnell Wright\u2019s impending free agency in 2027 and sign him to a contract extension. They will presumably pick up his fifth-year option, but considering he\u2019s arguably their most valuable long-term asset along the offensive line, it\u2019s smart to extend him before he gets even more expensive.<\/p>\n This contract would make Wright the third-highest paid right tackle in the NFL behind Penei Sewell and Lane Johnson, which is a completely fair assessment of where he stands in the league. There\u2019s also a certain amount of cap space that would be saved by signing him to a contract extension, though I don\u2019t know enough about how that works to have it reflect in this mock offseason. You\u2019re welcome!<\/p>\n There are a few players here the Bears could re-sign to respectable contracts, but I opted to go with Kevin Byard as my one big-money extension. He currently leads the NFL in interceptions and just earned Pro Bowl recognition again at 32 years old. He\u2019ll be expensive, but he\u2019ll hardly reset the market at his age. Harrison Smith got a one-year extension from the Vikings this past offseason worth a little over $10 million. Because Byard is having a better year than Smith\u2019s 2024 and three-and-a-half years younger, he gets a two-year deal with over $1 million more money annually.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve loved the addition of C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the Bears\u2019 secondary, especially with the injuries Kyler Gordon has dealt with this season. His ability to play in the box, in the nickel, or as a safety makes him a valuable defensive chess piece. Given the divided opinion around him in the NFL and his bouncing around teams in 2025, I don\u2019t think he gets the $9 million AAV he got from the Eagles in 2024. That said, a $5 million deal for one year seems fair. I\u2019d keep him as a safety, since I anticipate Jaquan Brisker will be too expensive to keep.<\/p>\n The remaining selections are depth and special teams re-signings. Devin Duvernay has been a solid kick returner for the Bears this year, Scott Daly has been reliable as their starting long snapper, and the likes of Jonathan Owens, D\u2019Marco Jackson, and Daniel Hardy are all valuable special teams defenders.<\/p>\n Updated cap space:<\/strong> $25.268 million<\/p>\n Notable Bears signed elsewhere<\/p>\n I include these signings to provide some insight into what the Bears\u2019 2027 compensatory pick situation could look like. If the Bears have activity in free agency, I don\u2019t anticipate they\u2019ll keep all of these comp picks. That said, based off of OverTheCap\u2019s projections given this past free agency\u2019s signings, Jaquan Brisker and Nahshon Wright would net Chicago two fifth-round picks in 2027. Braxton Jones would net them a seventh-round pick.<\/p>\n After extending Byard, Gardner-Johnson, and a few other depth pieces, you really only have room for one sizable signing. I decided to use that money on the defensive line, seeing as though their four-man rush has struggled to get home throughout the course of the season.<\/p>\n A cap casualty for the Seahawks in 2025, Dre\u2019Mont Jones signed with the Titans soon after and started in nine games for them before being traded to the more competitive Ravens before the trade deadline. He ranks 33rd among edge rushers with 42 pressures this year, and he\u2019s tied for 21st at his position with 7.0 sacks this season.<\/p>\n Jones also has a pass-rush win rate of 11.6%, which is hardly elite, but it\u2019s a step up over what the Bears have along their defensive line currently. For reference, Austin Booker\u2019s percentage this year is only 7.6%, and Dayo Odeyingbo\u2019s before his injury was 8.9%. Jones ranks not too far behind Montez Sweat, who comes in at 12.6%.<\/p>\n With the little bit of cap space I had left, I added some depth pieces to the offensive weaponry. Tim Patrick spent 2024 with the Lions in Ben Johnson\u2019s offense, starting in nine games with 33 receptions, 394 yards, and three touchdowns. He signed a one-year, $4 million deal last offseason, but with his numbers down in Jacksonville, I think you can get him for cheaper.<\/p>\n Charlie Kolar has quietly been a key piece to the Ravens\u2019 offense. Even with Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely in their tight end room, Kolar has carved out a niche for himself as their primary blocking tight end. He\u2019d serve in a similar role for the Bears in this scenario, and Chicago has also utilized their TE3, Durham Smythe, quite a bit this season. Kolar would be an upgrade, though: he has ample special teams experience, and he ranks ninth among tight ends as a run blocker with a 70.2 PFF grade<\/a>.<\/p>\n Updated cap space for rookie class and rest of 90-man roster:<\/strong> $14.268 million<\/p>\n As of this writing, this is where the Bears are currently on track to pick in the 2026 NFL Draft:<\/p>\n\n
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