adam

Anything is possible. DJ would have to agree to it. I agree on the WR part for KC, especially considering Kelce's retirement. Kmet an option? Moore is the perfect WR for a bad team with a young QB, like TEN or LVR.

I am sure Saleh will bring in McDaniel as his OC, forming SF-Central. Makes too much sense. I bet that is what landed him the job over Nagy. Nagy has struggled to bring in other coaches. Fangio was already on the staff when Nagy took over, he then hired Pagano, then Desai. In Nagy's coaching tenure, the team never had the same OC/DC combo in back-to-back years: Helfrich/Fangio Helfrich/Pagano Lazor/Pagano Lazor/Desai

Not if they trade for Moore, they take on his cap hit, which would be $16.5M for them, which means they would swap Moore and Jones and be worse off than they are now. A cut or trade accelerates cap hits, while restructures lessens them pushing money into the future like you said. KC is only in a bind for 2026, so they can safely move $20-30M to 2027 with limited impact. They have to free up $62M or $70M in effective cap, that is almost 25% of the total cap. They can add also void years to help offset the spread of the bonuses. So Jones has a $44.8M cap hit this year with $35M in guarantees. Since the money is guaranteeed, they will have to pay it one way or another. So they can convert it all to a bonus which gets spread out over the remainder of his deal, 3 years. That would reduce his 2026 cap hit to around $30M (saving $15M). However, if they need even more relief than that, they can add a year or two in void years to thin out that bonus money over 5 years instead of 3, which would give him a cap hit of $26M for 2026, saving about $19M.

KC's cap is screwed. I don't think they can trade Jones because him and Mahomes are basically the only two players that you can get cap relief from with a restructure. If they trade him, they immediately get a $30M dead money cap hit, which doesn't really help their situation. I have seen Simmons mentioned from TEN, but TEN has the most cap space, so moving him doesn't make much sense if it is strictly for cap purposes. There are several teams that fit the criteria who are in the need of cap relief and trading a player would provide that: Vikings, Cowboys, and Dolphins

Don't really want to talk what-ifs or beat a dead horse, but this was 100% on DJ. He ran his route about 10 yards too vertical. If he runs the right route, it hit him in the hands at the 25 with no defender within 5 yards of him. This guy breaks it down perfectly. What it seems like to me is because DJ didn't get the ball on previous times this play was called, that he didn't think it was coming to him so he was just jogging it out.

Trades are definitely better. Here are the top FA Edge options: Adafe Oweh - 28, 7.5 sacks, 48.7% of snaps Trey Hendrickson - 32, 4 sacks, 26% of snaps Khalil Mack - 35, 5.5 sacks, 41.7% of snaps Joey Bosa - 31, 5 sacks, 57.2% of snaps Jacob Martin - 31, 5.5 sacks, 61.5% of snaps Jihad Ward - 32, 5 sacks, 66.7% of snaps Jaelan Phillips - 27, 5 sacks, 74.5% of snaps

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.

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

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

Yeah, seeing the replays, he was jogging the entire route and the Safety from a standstill was able to beat him to the spot and make a play on the ball. I don't know how you can come back from that, all the other players saw it or will see it a million times between now and next season. The problem with DJ has always been effort. This year targets down, effort down. This was his first time on a winning team in his college and pro career and this is how he acts? Too accustomed to the loser mentality.

The Bears have the 25th pick in the 2026 draft. Pass Rush is an issue, no starting Safeties, and a question mark at LT. They need at least 2 starters from this class.

1 play from the NFCC and played one of their worst games. If they catch 2 to 3 of the 7 drops they win. If this team improves, they are going to be in every game.

On the INT, what was the play call there? 4 deep routes, no one underneath. You got there dinking and dunking, just keep doing that until they stop you. You needed 15 to 20 yards.

Un believe able I don't even know what I just witnessed. 17-17 going to OT