Going 11-6, winning the division, and coming an overtime away from the NFC Championship would give lots of teams hope that they’re ready to go after a Super Bowl. The Chicago Bears certainly carry themselves as a confident team. Their 59-37 thrashing of the Carolina Panthers on opening day certainly carried that message. Head coach Ben Johnson has made it clear from the start that a championship is the endgame. Nothing less is acceptable. That said, GM Ryan Poles must take a more realistic view of things.
While he has the utmost confidence in Johnson, quarterback Caleb Williams, and what this team can do, he admitted in an interview with Sky Sports that the roster is not what he’d call complete. While he believes the offense is transforming into something special, he balked at saying the same about the defense.
“Yeah, we have a lot of continuity on the offensive side. There’s been a lot of change on the defensive side. We have, I think, four guys that have played and started a lot of games for us on the defensive side, but the rest are fairly new or didn’t get the opportunity to play too much because of injury. So we know that’s going to take a little bit of time to get that continuity on the defensive side, but once we’re able to match offense and defense together, I think it could be really, really special.”
This isn’t really a surprise. Most people agree the Bears’ defense is far from perfect. It has an overall lack of star power that is hard to ignore, which wasn’t helped by their rough afternoon in Carolina. Poles tried to be diplomatic about it, but it’s pretty clear that side of the ball still needs a lot of work.
Poles knows the Chicago Bears are still escaping the Matt Eberflus era.
Remember, many of the players on this defense that Chicago brought in were at the behest of the team’s former head coach. Asking Dennis Allen to somehow transform that same group into something great was never realistic. He needs his own core of talent to work with, and assembling it has been difficult. Dillon Thieneman is the only 1st round pick they’ve added to that side of the ball since Allen arrived. Former 2nd round picks like Jaquan Brisker and Gervon Dexter went from possible mainstays to off the team. Brisker left in free agency. Dexter was traded.
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Tyrique Stevenson and even Kyler Gordon probably aren’t far behind. When you have that many high draft choices not figuring into the team’s future plans, you’re going to get poor results. The Chicago Bears have tried to mitigate this by signing veteran free agents and making mid-round picks, but it hasn’t worked. Injuries played a major part. Dayo Odeyingbo tore his Achilles tendon last season. Grady Jarrett wasn’t healthy either. Coby Bryant, their big addition this offseason, hurt his knee before the season even began.
Ask the serious question. Who in that starting lineup do you envision being there three years from now? Thieneman is an obvious one. Malik Muhammad, maybe. That is pretty much it. Everybody else is an older veteran unlikely to stick around that long.
Everything points to a massive overhaul coming in 2027.
With pretty much every notable player on offense secured through 2028, all of the important business for 2027 circles the defense. Stevenson and Kentavius Street are free agents. Odeyingbo, Jarrett, and T.J. Edwards are likely cap casualties. Gordon may be released as well despite minimal cap help. Montez Sweat is getting up there in age. Jaylon Johnson has a contract issue to consider. There is a possibility that half of this starting lineup will undergo significant changes next spring.
That means the bulk of the 2027 NFL draft will be dedicated to it. Thieneman looks like a good start, but more 1st round picks must be invested. That is especially true up front. The Bears haven’t spent a 1st rounder in the defensive trenches since Leonard Floyd in 2016. Poles has avoided it for far too long. Early signs indicate he is scouting that area heavily in this upcoming draft class. He knows the window is open for the Bears. It falls on him to get the pieces in place to get them over the hump.
