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I think with the change the continuity of the OL was disrupted and did affect the running game. I think Kiran may enter the LT competition if he can stay healthy. The key will be if Ozzy can get back to health quickly.

I think he's only 25-26, just entering his prime. Depends on concerns about future health that I think will affect re-signing him.

I think Poles does similar moves like he did last year to get extra picks in the top 100. Edwards, Amen, Sewell, resign D Jackson and Hyppolite so LB won't be a top priority. DT to me is the biggest need.

Lots of great information here Adam. First I think they restructure all the contracts they can to get Cap space. Cut players with little dead money. Edmunds is a no brainer. Swift is another possibility but at 26 with little mileage, I think they extend him and redo for friendly cap money for next year. I also think they redo Kmets contract for a friendly cap hit for 26. He is one of the team leaders. Most contracts are set up for 2027 cuts with little dead money. Trades, as much as I don't think they will, Kmet and DJ are likely trade candidates. Easy to say trade them but you have to find someone willing to take a big salary and usually that's not rebuilding teams. To me more likely to restructure their contracts unless you can get good value in a player or higher draft picks. They will first resign their own free agents. Olin kruetz was saying that a lot of free agents will want to come here because we are poised to do a SB run the next two years. I think applies to our own free agents. Byard is a team leader, a no brainer to me. D Jackson to replace Edmunds and will be back on a team friendly deal. Could be back, Duhshon Wright, Gardener-Johnson and Brisker if they take team friendly deals. As much as the defense has sucked this year, injuries had a lot to do with it. I think a healthy Gordon, JJ, Dayo, Shemar Turner will all make the defense better. The Rams game proved to me how good DA is , they held Pucau and Adams to 7 catches and under 100 yards for the game. 20 points to the best offense in the league. Have to keep in mind Terrell Smith will be back and he has played well when healthy. As much as DE is a need, I think a top DT will help more from trade or draft pick. If they resign the safeties, DT, DE will be our top draft needs then S. Also depending on the news with Ozzy, LT may be picked in the top 3 picks. If Poles and BJ think we need a Crosby, they will find a way to get him. I think Simmons from Tennessee would be a more valuable get.

I feel like a good DT, safety and LB should all be in range of picks they are making in first 2 rounds. Maybe move down to get 3 in first 2 rounds.

So decent shot we lose our rb coach with Bienemy rejoining Reid and Mahomes.

Ultimately if they can bring back Byard, the only starting positions they would have to fill besides SS would be any holes they make, like cutting Edmunds. That is a pretty good spot because you are looking to just upgrade at that point. A lot of teams are losing as much as they are gaining. 10 teams will have new coaches, 10 teams had 6 wins or less. Thats a 1/3 of the league, another 1/3 is trapped in the middle between 7-9 wins, then you have the 1/3. The Bears are primed for a top 1/3 run for the next decade. SEA, NE, CHI, JAX, DEN, and LAC seem to be that group. They all have QBs under 30, all made the playoffs, all will have relatively the same coaching staff in 2026, with no major cap issues.

Thuney was excellent against pass rush (only one bad play) but the run game was hampered having him out there…doesn’t have the speed to run the zone concepts out there. That is where Theo and Trapillo made a difference.

Yeah I think it was purely they didn’t think they could afford that in this game and made the move. Hopefully Trapillo ends up developing and recovering and another offseason helps Theo…but is also seems like we could see them look for a vet stop gap or another option.

He’s not very good against speed. Verse is a pure power rusher so that’s why they made that move.

Thuney in a pinch, but you don't want to leave him there, due him being dominant at guard. Benedet can fill in next year as he gets stronger. BJ was on record wanting Thuney at LT this week because of the opponent matchup. Jared Verse's strength is a great bull rush and they wanted that neutralized.

Uh yeah, we can and should! He's a serial quitter. He showed his complete character last season when he walked off the field as Caleb was still scrambling for his life. He's loafed his last route here, as far as I'm concerned.

My guess is DT or LB end up going here. Could even see a slight move down and target one of those spots or a safety. But don’t force your hand - play best talent that falls. I doubt it will be a DE.

Which position will make the most impact. A DE/DT can help the DBs. I doubt any hybrid ILB/edge rushers fall that far, but DA is a LB guy. That Reese from OSU is going to go top 10 if not higher. Id like to see a 3T, but that makes Dexter a player who needs to transition to NT and he may not be stout enough to plug that gap.

Fun season and a nice foundation - could have won which is tough for how it ended but this was a fun year and I’m excited and confident for the future. I don’t think anyone is satisfied and I expect a lot of hard work this offseason getting better. Caleb and offense is just scratching the surface and Caleb in particular has made major growth but still has a ton of opportunities for growth (which is so exciting). Defensively I believe in the staff and they will get some key players back but I expect a lot of new faces - let’s see what staff and front office can do.

Nice breakdown Adam. The Bears have some difficult decisions to make. The easiest is DJ to me. His is clutch when he wants, but moving his cap to a DE/DT that can make a difference will help balance the team. Kmet might get the home town hardball thrown at him bc i believe he will do what he can to stay and the Bears know it. I am excited to see this offseason. If the Caleb and the WRs both take another step at their deficiencies, we could be holding off these talks.

For positional value, the Bears need an immediate starter at #25, that seems like DT or S, but could also be CB, LB, or Edge with a Wild Card being OT.

The Bears are about $4M over the cap, need $5M for operating space and $8-10M for draft picks. Let's just say that is $20M. The Bears can gain over $35M in cap space with these 3 transactions: 1. Cut Edmunds - pre-June 1st, save $15M (only $2.4M Dead cap) 2. Trade Moore - pre-June 1st, save $16.5M ($12M in Dead cap) or restructure that can save approximately $15M. 3. Restructure Thuney - convert $12M of his $16M to bonus, saves $6M Other potential moves 1. Cut/Trade/Restructure/Extend Kmet - I think they will do something with him. He is tied for the 7th-highest AAV amongst TEs for backup TE production. With the emergence of Loveland, you just can't have Kmet on the roster with an $11.6M cap hit. Options: A. Cut/Trade - save $8.4M, only $3.2M in dead money B. Restructure - With 2 years left, you can convert some of his $8.9M into a bonus to free up some cash this year C. Extend - Only if he takes less AAV, which may be unlikely, but if he did, you could cost-average his annual cap hit down to a more workable level. 2. Restructure Jarrett - similar to Thuney, can convert guaranteed to bonus to free up about another $5M If you add transactions for Kmet and Jarrett, the Bears could have close to $50M to work with. If Byard is your only named resigning, after subtracting operating space and the draft pool, the Bears should have $25-30M for free agency. Rest of the NFL To put this into perspective, the Chiefs are $62M over the cap, Vikings $49M, and Cowboys $39M. Mahomes has a $78M cap hit in 2026. They will probably restructure Mahomes and Jones to free up about $50M, mortgaging the future, and will probably have to cut or trade a guy like Jawaan Taylor to get under the cap. The Vikings will restructure Jefferson's contract, but they will have to make some cuts to just get under the cap. They won't be able to sign any major FAs. This roster looks to take a step back from 2025 unless all their draft picks hit and contribute on Day 1, unlikely. GB interestingly enough is $24M over the cap, they can get under with restructures for Love and Parsons, but man are those contracts gonna hit hard in a few years, Love's already hits $75M in 2028 and Parsons hits $72M in 2029. So if they restructure either of theirs this offseason, those numbers will go up even further. GB was clearly going all in and it looks like 2026 will be their last year with a roster that resembles 2025. 2027 and beyond will have to be stripped down. Quay Walker, Doubs, and their LT Walker are all UFAs this offseason, and they don't have a first-round pick. With limited cap and draft capital, this team is solely relying on Parsons in 2026. The Lions are $16M over, Goff has a $69M cap hit and St. Brown is $33M, they restructure both of those to get under. They can do the same with Hutchinson, to free up some operating space, but they won't be signing any major FAs. This team will go into 2026 relying on the 4th place schedule. The Bears are in the best shape cap-wise of all the teams in the Division, MIN has the most draft capital with an extra 3rd, GB has the least without a 1st round pick. The CHI, GB, and DET QB situation is stable, so the Bears are the healthiest of the teams within the division. CAP: CHI, ........DET, GB, .................MIN Draft: MIN, DET, CHI, ......................GB QB: CHI,.....DET, GB.........................MIN Overall Organizational Health: CHI, DET...........MIN, GB

Get Kiran prepared for the job and Thuney as insurance. Kiran either steps up or steps out. Hate to see him bust. Wish his dad never ran into Flus at the golf course.

possibly until Trapilo is ready anyway?

So any reason Thuney couldn’t stay LT - if needed? I mean sure it was one game but he and McFadden did a pretty bang up job last night. Rarely did Caleb have to scramble and this was against one of the best defensive front out there.

Yep. I'll keep saying it, but his insistence on every drop back needing to be a pass has cost his team so many yards throughout the season. It's also had a negative impact on his efficiency. Instead of an incompletion (or turnover), it would go down as a positive run. I often times wonder if internally he's having a battle with himself where he doesn't like running because he wants to prove to everyone he is a pocket passer. When you're in a gotta have it situation, you don't want to introduce more variable into a play by passing when you can just use your legs and scramble for what feels like could be 10-20 yards anytime Caleb wants to, but that's the problem: he doesn't.

Here's a breakdown. Also, I'll show how Caleb missed a game winning shot on the same play. Lessons learned the hard way... https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTrXdQnDraW/?igsh=MWJkd243bmR3bzNrbA==

Here are the Bears Free Agents heading into the offseason. Counting Special Teams, the Bears have 5 starters that are UFAs. Daly and Duvernay are low salaries guys that can be brought back with little cap considerations. So that leaves Brisker, Byard, and Wright. Out of those 3, I would bring back Byard, he should be the cheapest of the 3 and gives you the most in terms of performance and leadership. Brisker played a great game against the Rams but is too big of an injury risk with his concussion history. Wright started out on fire, then got burnt for the back half of the season. Unrestricted Free Agents S Jaquan Brisker - Injury risk, pass S Kevin Byard - I would resign to a 2-yr deal, team leader, still playing at a high level CB Nashon Wright - subtract the INTs and you have a bad DB LS Scott Daly - resign to near vet min deal WR Devin Duvernay - resign to near vet min deal, unless you think you can get more out of this position DL Andrew Billings - gone, old, fat, and slow. CB Elijah Hicks - If signed will be for near league min deal RB Travis Homer - If signed will be for near league min deal LB D'Marco Jackson - I would resign him if you are playing on keeping DA, Jackson played well as the next man up OT Braxton Jones - cant see them resigning him DB Jaylon Jones - If signed will be for near league min deal QB Case Keenum - Bring him back if you think he can still provide guidance, with Caleb entering Year 3, might not be needed anymore CB Nick McCloud - Please don't resign this turnstile, contributed directly to at least 3 of the Bears losses S Jonathan Owens - Meh Edge Dominique Robinson - Never consistent enough TE Durham Smythe - Solid TE3 Edge Joe Tryon-Shoyinka - Made a couple of plays, doubt you have money for rotational Edges over league min DL Chris Williams - DT Room needs an upgrade from top to bottom WR Olamide Zaccheaus - Impressed in training camp and early on, then fell off a cliff. Doubt he is back. Restricted/Exclusive-Rights Free Agents LT Theo Benedet - cool story, but depends on the cost Edge Daniel Hardy - ST Specialist, only sign if he is getting ST level money LB Noah Sewell - Injuries and terrible in coverage