With the unexpected retirement of Dalman, the Bears lost 5 of their top 9 players in snap count, and 6 out of the top 11. Those 6 were all starters. Then they also lost what I would call 4 key contributors, players with a significant number of snaps. Here is a quick rundown of the losses and gains so far and how I think they will address them:

ADD/SUB LIST

STARTERS:

1. C Drew Dalman (1154+15) >>> C Garrett Bradbury. On paper, a downgrade, but it may actually be a pass pro upgrade and run block downgrade)

2. S Jaquan Brisker (1072+90) >>> With the biggest contract put into Bryant, I assume they draft a Safety in the first 3 rounds and sign a vet or two to league minimum deals to compete.

3. S Kevin Byard (1071+1) >>> S Coby Bryant, biggest FA acquisition, is an all-around upgrade as Bryant is more versatile than Byard and Brisker.

4. CB Nahshon Wright (1041+18) >>> (Stevenson, Smith, Frazier) This hole will be filled from within. That's why they have Al Harris.

5. WR DJ Moore (979+2) >>> (Odunze+200, Burden+400, Walker+100) Odunze missed a lot of time, Burden didn't get going until late, and Walker probably gets more snaps to fill these snaps. If Burden gets the bulk of these snaps and targets, the offense will be more efficient. If anything, they bring in a vet minimum guy, which there are a ton (Josh Reynolds - played with Johnson, Gabe Davis, Zay Jones, etc.)

6. LB Tremaine Edmunds (813+11) >>> LB Devin Bush. Clear upgrade, Edmunds played small, Bush plays big and fast. Teams won't be able to get those easy 5 yards per carry anymore as Bush fills the hole much quicker and can recover better than Edmunds. Edmunds was like a tall tackling dummy.

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KEY CONTRIBUTORS:

7. DT Andrew Billings (511+72) >>> DT Neville Gallimore. Billings was terrible in 2025; almost anyone will be an upgrade here.

8. WR Olamide Zacchaeus (580+2) >>> WR Kalif Raymond. Raymond's familiarity with Johnson's offense and top-notch PR ability make this a really nice depth signing.

9. CB Nick McCloud (436+143) >>> CB Cam Lewis. Just like Billings, anyone replacing McCloud will be an upgrade, besides Kindle Vildor.

10. DB Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (565+10) >>> (Gordon, Lewis). I think Gordon and Lewis take most of these snaps. They will still add a vet min guy too.

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OTHERS:

11. TE Durham Smythe (293+230) >>>

12. DE Dominique Robinson (215+161) >>>

13. S Jonathan Owens (47+264) >>>

14. WR/KR Devin Duvernay (40+209) >>>

15. DT Chris Williams (219+20) >>> DL Kentavious Street

So the BLUF is, there really aren't huge holes to fill. This team was one play away from the NFCC, and has been adding team speed on defense to make it less reliant on the takeaway. Safety seems like the only spot that they would be drafting to fill a hole. The rest can be BPA focused on DT and Edge.

We got faster at every position you listed.

48 minutes ago, adam said:

So the BLUF is, there really aren't huge holes to fill. This team was one play away from the NFCC, and has been adding team speed on defense to make it less reliant on the takeaway. Safety seems like the only spot that they would be drafting to fill a hole. The rest can be BPA focused on DT and Edge.

Yet all the Twitter bots are screaming about the Bears lack of FA signings, the Bears being broke....yatta, yatta, yatta. The Bears have done well given they were over the cap a month ago.

42 minutes ago, ASHKUM BEAR said:

Yet all the Twitter bots are screaming about the Bears lack of FA signings, the Bears being broke....yatta, yatta, yatta. The Bears have done well given they were over the cap a month ago.

All Social Media is a cesspool of hate. Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter all say the same thing. They wanted the Bears to sign Linderbaum and Hendrickson, and anything less would've been a failure. In reality, signing free agents from the lower cap hit positional groups is smarter money. You get more bang for your buck that way.

26 minutes ago, adam said:

All Social Media is a cesspool of hate. Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter all say the same thing. They wanted the Bears to sign Linderbaum and Hendrickson, and anything less would've been a failure. In reality, signing free agents from the lower cap hit positional groups is smarter money. You get more bang for your buck that way.

And you dont get stuck with under performers like we tend to do. Im excited to see a healthier Jarrett and Dayo redeem themselves. Not that I expect sacks from Dayo, but great run D and edge containment

2 hours ago, adam said:

With the unexpected retirement of Dalman, the Bears lost 5 of their top 9 players in snap count, and 6 out of the top 11. Those 6 were all starters. Then they also lost what I would call 4 key contributors, players with a significant number of snaps. Here is a quick rundown of the losses and gains so far and how I think they will address them:

ADD/SUB LIST

STARTERS:

1. C Drew Dalman (1154+15) >>> C Garrett Bradbury. On paper, a downgrade, but it may actually be a pass pro upgrade and run block downgrade)

2. S Jaquan Brisker (1072+90) >>> With the biggest contract put into Bryant, I assume they draft a Safety in the first 3 rounds and sign a vet or two to league minimum deals to compete.

3. S Kevin Byard (1071+1) >>> S Coby Bryant, biggest FA acquisition, is an all-around upgrade as Bryant is more versatile than Byard and Brisker.

4. CB Nahshon Wright (1041+18) >>> (Stevenson, Smith, Frazier) This hole will be filled from within. That's why they have Al Harris.

5. WR DJ Moore (979+2) >>> (Odunze+200, Burden+400, Walker+100) Odunze missed a lot of time, Burden didn't get going until late, and Walker probably gets more snaps to fill these snaps. If Burden gets the bulk of these snaps and targets, the offense will be more efficient. If anything, they bring in a vet minimum guy, which there are a ton (Josh Reynolds - played with Johnson, Gabe Davis, Zay Jones, etc.)

6. LB Tremaine Edmunds (813+11) >>> LB Devin Bush. Clear upgrade, Edmunds played small, Bush plays big and fast. Teams won't be able to get those easy 5 yards per carry anymore as Bush fills the hole much quicker and can recover better than Edmunds. Edmunds was like a tall tackling dummy.

----------------------------------------------------
KEY CONTRIBUTORS:

7. DT Andrew Billings (511+72) >>> DT Neville Gallimore. Billings was terrible in 2025; almost anyone will be an upgrade here.

8. WR Olamide Zacchaeus (580+2) >>> WR Kalif Raymond. Raymond's familiarity with Johnson's offense and top-notch PR ability make this a really nice depth signing.

9. CB Nick McCloud (436+143) >>> CB Cam Lewis. Just like Billings, anyone replacing McCloud will be an upgrade, besides Kindle Vildor.

10. DB Chauncey Gardner-Johnson (565+10) >>> (Gordon, Lewis). I think Gordon and Lewis take most of these snaps. They will still add a vet min guy too.

----------------------------------------------------

OTHERS:

11. TE Durham Smythe (293+230) >>>

12. DE Dominique Robinson (215+161) >>>

13. S Jonathan Owens (47+264) >>>

14. WR/KR Devin Duvernay (40+209) >>>

15. DT Chris Williams (219+20) >>> DL Kentavious Street

Duvernay as returner was replaced by Raymond even though you had Raymond listed as OZ replacement. Two birds with one stone approach.