NFL Execs Believe Chicago Bears Will Sit Out 2026 Free Agency — Wait Until You Hear Why
The Chicago Bears are closed. They were maybe 15-20 yards away from reaching the NFC Championship this season. They know they have a good enough core to make a run at a Super Bowl. The key is putting together one more strong offseason. That won’t be easy for GM Ryan Poles and head coach Ben Johnson. They don’t have the resources they did last year. Salary cap space is limited, even with the significant jump in the cap ceiling to around $305 million. They also won’t be picking in the top 10 this time.
Even so, plenty of fans believe this the time for the team to go all in. Caleb Williams is still on his cheap rookie deal. The Bears must squeeze every possible drop out of their payroll while they can. However, two different high-level executives told Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune they don’t see it happening. It is necessarily because the Bears can’t afford it. There are always ways to find the money. This is more about the reality that this 2026 crop of veteran players isn’t worth what it would take to sign them.
The Bears are more likely to search for bargains and focus on the draft.
When I say nothing would surprise me, some will interpret that as code for a splash move in the weeks and months to come. Trade for a marquee defensive lineman? Make a power-play move in free agency? Don’t rule anything out, but I’d probably set odds against both…
…It also wouldn’t surprise me if the Bears pick their spots in free agency — there isn’t an overwhelming crop of star players who will be available — and focus on adding another strong draft class.
“Not a great year for free agency,” one general manager said Tuesday as he walked into Whitney Hancock Stadium for practice. “I wouldn’t want to count on turning around my team with guys you’re going to wind up having to overpay to sign.”
Added an assistant GM: “This is really what free agency has kind of become. Look back over the past couple years. The guys that are actually available, it’s really never a list that’s going to blow you away. It’s the old deal where you’re better off with the devil you know than the devil you don’t. So teams are re-signing their own guys and there just aren’t many guys in their prime, healthy and coming off productive seasons that are even out there.
“Then you have to pay such a premium to have a chance for the guys that might fit that profile and are really good players that haven’t reached (age) 30. That’s why most teams, the good ones that have a clue what the hell they are doing, they really pick and choose.”
The Chicago Bears are finally positioned to maximize their drafts.
Part of the problem in recent years has been their inability to develop young players properly. A regular succession of underqualified head coaches played a big part in that. Only since Johnson arrived have things begun to turn. Colston Loveland, Luther Burden, and Kyle Monangai were instant hits as rookies. Ozzy Trapilo looked like a starter as well before his knee injury. That is already looking like the best draft class the Bears have produced in the past decade. If they can keep up the momentum with another strong one this April, they’ll be well-positioned for a run.
The obvious challenge is draft position. Unlike previous years, the Chicago Bears will be picking in the later part of every round. That means Poles, his scouts, and the coaches must do some of their best evaluating to find good players. The last time they picked in the final third of the 1st round, they ended up with Gabe Carimi. While not the sole reason for the Bears’ eventual decline in the mid-2010s, that accelerated it. If this team wants to clear the final hurdle, they must secure two or three good players in this upcoming class.