The Chicago Bears retooled their secondary this offseason, along with the linebackers. Offensively, they added more depth at wide receiver and tight end while shoring up some unexpected holes on the offensive line. Yet one thing stood out from their approach that left fans and media puzzled. It was their bizarre decision not to invest more heavily in the defensive line. After ranking as one of the worst units in the league at rushing the passer, it made sense that they’d go hunting for upgrades.
Instead, the Bears opted for a more improve-on-the-margins approach. They added Neville Gallimore in free agency to boost the defensive tackle spot and drafted Jordan Van Den Berg in the 6th round to do the same. No notable additions were made at edge rusher. General manager Ryan Poles stated the team felt they had enough pieces to be productive. It was a matter of guys staying healthy, which Austin Booker, Dayo Odeyingbo, and Shemar Turner did not.
There may have been another explanation, though. It leads into one of Poles’ more unheralded traits. They might be waiting for the 2027 NFL draft. ESPN revealed why.
The Chicago Bears might be waiting for better opportunities.
Teams needing defensive line help have plentiful Round 1 options at both edge and defensive tackle. Simmons and Stewart top the edge rankings, followed by players such as Teitum Tuioti (Oregon), Yhonzae Pierre (Alabama) and Will Heldt (Clemson). At 6-5, 245 pounds, Stewart has a lot of similarities to Brian Burns as an explosive and violent edge rusher with exceptional bend.
“Stewart has some of the rarest movement skills that I’ve ever evaluated in an edge rusher,” an AFC evaluator said. “If he can reach double-digit sacks, he has No. 1 overall pick potential.” Stewart had 4.5 sacks in 2025.
There isn’t a defensive tackle who is head and shoulders above the rest, but players such as Moten, Echoles, A’Mauri Washington (Oregon) and David Stone (Oklahoma) are Round 1-caliber and viable DT1 candidates. They headline a defensive tackle group which scouts believe is the strongest non-QB position group in the 2027 class.
This strategy has yielded fruit for Poles before.
Waiting to address key positions until the draft talent matches the need is something Poles prefers. We’ve already seen it happen multiple times through his first few years on the job. His first year on the job, fans were begging him to address the offensive line after allowing 58 sacks in 2021. Rather than lean into that need, the Bears opted to focus on their secondary in the early rounds. He didn’t take an offensive tackle until the 5th (Braxton Jones). Poles did this because he felt the talent wasn’t there, but would be the next year.
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Sure enough, the Chicago Bears drafted Darnell Wright 10th overall. Ironically, that 2023 draft was one that fans hoped he’d go after a quarterback. He had the #1 overall pick. Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud felt like obvious targets. Again, Poles passed. He traded the pick for a boatload of picks from Carolina and took Wright. He knew the 2024 draft class was shaping up to be much stronger, headlined by Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye. We’ve all seen how that turned out.
Good drafting is about timing as much as positions.
Rest assured, the Bears want to find that stalwart defensive lineman as much as anybody else. The problem is you can’t force the issue. When you do that, the odds of failure go up. Reaching for defensive line help in a weak draft is a bad process. Waiting until the class is strong enough to give you a better opportunity is the smart thing to do, even if it may cause short-term headaches. That is what we saw with the Bears this past April. They focused on safety and center in the early rounds.
Why? It was because both were among the stronger positions in the class. Dillon Thieneman and Logan Jones are fully capable of starting immediately. Experts believe they have Pro Bowl upside in the right situation. By contrast, not much is being said about the defensive line options they could’ve taken with either of those picks. This is what “taking the best player” is really like. Sometimes you’re not going to satisfy that sweet tooth immediately. Each the vegetable first.
