adam

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.

I don't mind that the Bears are being modest with their free agent acquisitions this year. They were one play from the NFCC, had a ton of injuries, and most of their offseason losses (snap-wise) were on the defensive side of the ball, where they need upgrades anyway. Also, just like every other year, there have been some outrageous deals going out. Jaelan Phillips led all free agents with $30M AAV and had 2 sacks in 8 games for PHI. Pierce resigned with the Colts but still got $28.5M, which is crazy high for a WR2. Hendrickson got $28M and Lindenbaum got $27M. Rarely do signings like that work out in the long run. Of the 15 teams that signed a new player with a higher AAV than Bryant, (CAR, BAL, LVR, WAS, MIA, TEN, CIN, LAR, NE, CLE, NO, BUF, KC, SF, and NYG), only 4, BUF, SF, NE, and LAR had a winning record last year. BUF signed Chubb, SF signed Evans, LAR signed Watson, and NE signed Doubs and Vera-Tucker. None of those are earth-shattering moves. So I like the Bears approach so far. Safety was a gaping hole, and the filled one spot with an upgrade. Cutting Edmunds created another hole that was filled by Bush. Those are good moves and what I feel are low risk compared to moves in the past.

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.

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

I had so many great thoughts that I couldn't post lol.

Supposedly the Colts had an offer on the table for Hendricks and once the Baltimore opp popped up, he took it. So they may be in the worst position because at least the Raiders have Crosby still. The Colts have neither.

He rarely puts out insider info, so it will be interesting to watch.

It's crazy that the Ravens can get away with those types of shenanigans, but the Bears can't even get comp picks they are entitled to for doing the right thing.

Wild news, especially with all the other teams making moves around this. Ravens probably sign Hendricks. Price tag can't be 2x firsts anymore, can it?

Another solid depth piece, looks to fill the McCloud role (who was burnt way too much when he was on the field), so this may be bigger upgrade than face value.

I saw a post about free agents, only 5% make the Pro Bowl on their new team. Free agency is mainly used to get quality starters, fill holes, and improve depth. Trades and drafting and developing are the ways to get your true blue chippers. Those guys rarely hit the market, they are resigned or traded.

Seems like a lower-end depth piece. Played a year with DA in 2022 in NO, so there is some inside knowledge on what he brings.

Gallimore is taking Billings spot who clearly lost a step or two and some strength.

The Bears came into today with starter needs at LT, DT, Edge, LB, and 2x Safety. At worst, they addressed LB and one Safety, have placeholders in at LT and DT, leaving Edge and the other Safety spots left to address. It feels like DT and Edge will be addressed in 2 of the top 3 picks. Safety by the 4th round.

A pretty low risk move. The Bears know exactly what they have and understand his health better than anyone.