The first Chicago Bears 2026 mock offseason comes far later than previous years. It is a byproduct of the team being good for once. With one game left, they’re playing for a chance at the #2 seed in the playoffs. However, it has become apparent by now what their objectives will be next spring. GM Ryan Poles and head coach Ben Johnson accomplished their objective for 2025, which was to build around Caleb Williams. Now, their focus will shift to a defense that has been underwhelming for most of the season, outside of turnovers. Plenty of work must be done. Here is how they can go about it.

The Chicago Bears’ 2026 mock offseason will feature some tough decisions

Cuts/Trades:

D.J. Moore to the Las Vegas Raiders for a 3rd round pick in 2027

This is the toughest decision to make. Moore has been a trusted playmaker for the Bears, but they have to find a strong kick of salary cap space somewhere. Trading their wide receiver will secure $16 million in cap space, along with a solid future pick they can retool with. They have Rome Odunze and Luther Burden under manageable contracts. This is one of those moves you never like making, but sometimes can’t avoid.

Restructures/Extensions:

• Darnell Wright – 4-year extension for $92 million
• Montez Sweat – Full restructure to create $10 million in cap space
• Tremaine Edmunds – 2-year extension at $16 million per year (gains $5 million in 2026 cap space)
• Jaylon Johnson – 2-year extension at $20 million per year (gains $5 million in 2026 cap space)
• C.J. Gardner-Johnson – 2-year extension for $12 million per year
• Kevin Byard – 1-year deal for $7 million
• Andrew Billings – 1-year deal at $3 million
• Theo Benedet – ERFA contract at $885,000
• Scott Daly – 1-year deal at $1.215 million
• Jonathan Owens – 1-year deal at $1.3 million
• Nick McCloud – 1-year deal at $1.215 million
• Elijah Hicks – 1-year deal at $1.215 million
• D'Marco Jackson – 1-year deal at $1.215 million
• Durham Smythe – 1-year deal at $1.3 million
• Daniel Hardy – RFA tender at $3.45 million

Salary cap: $12.69 million

Free Agency:

Fans won’t like the idea of this Chicago Bears 2026 mock offseason coming and going with no notable moves in free agency. Sadly, it has to be this way. The team has no wiggle room to make any significant additions on the veteran market this year. They can probably add a few guys on the cheap, but that’s it. If ever there was a year to focus on trying to get compensatory picks, this is the one.

The Draft:

1st Round – Matayo Uiagalelei (EDGE, Oregon)

If you’re looking for a poster child of a classic 4-3 defensive end, it’s Uiagalelei. He’s 6’5 and 270 lbs with good length. He’s already an excellent run defender, but has also flashed a lot of promise as a pass rusher. His mix of power and athleticism makes him a difficult matchup in any situation. At one point in a 16-game span for Oregon, he had 12.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for a loss.

2nd Round – Derrick Moore (EDGE, Michigan)

You always want to see steady progress from a player throughout their college career. That is exactly what Moore presented despite the carnival show at Michigan this past year. He had 10 sacks in 12 games, 7.5 of them coming in the final six contests. He’s average in size, but makes up for it with an explosive burst, raw power, and a strong motor. What he needs is development.

3rd Round – Darrell Jackson (DT, Florida State)

Interior run defense has been a persistent issue for the Bears for a long time. Andrew Billings has eased the pain at times, but he’s in his 30s and likely nearing the end of his career. They need a true nose tackle for the long term. When he’s in a groove, Jackson is the type of big, powerful guy who is impossible to move. He has natural leverage to get under blocks, and the lower-body strength to hold his ground is perfect.

4th Round – Lander Barton (LB, Utah)

If you’re looking for the modern era linebacker, look no further. Barton has great size for his position at 6’4 and couples it with great range and coverage instincts. Chicago has struggled covering the middle of the field all year. Barton, with his five interceptions in three years, could help with that.

5th Round – Tao Johnson (S, Utah)

As with Billings, the Bears must think about life after Kevin Byard. Johnson is the type of athletic safety who can fit perfectly in single-high. He has the range to cover lots of ground and the awareness to go after the football when it’s in the air.

7th Round (via CLE) – Barion Brown (WR, LSU)

While the Bears have plenty of talent at wide receiver, one thing you could argue they’ve lacked for too long is legitimate vertical speed. They don’t have a burner. Brown is the type of gamble worth taking. While he never had a breakout year for LSU, his 4.3 speed is no joke. Defenses will have to respect him.

7th Round – Raion Strader (CB, Auburn)

Depth at cornerback is never a bad thing. Injuries ravaged the position for Chicago this season. Adding another body won’t hurt. Strader had 31 passes defended and three interceptions in his two years at Miami (OH) before transferring to Auburn this season. He has a nose for the football.

If there’s one thing people know about LeSean McCoy, it’s that he isn’t afraid to open his mouth. The former Pro Bowl running back has transitioned seamlessly into the modern media sphere, thanks to his willingness to share hot takes left and right. One of his favorite targets of opportunity is the Chicago Bears quarterback position. Justin Fields was a frequent victim of his criticism throughout his time as the starter. When Caleb Williams took over last year, McCoy turned his verbal jabs on him.

Things reached peak meatball a few weeks ago when he openly stated that Cleveland Browns rookie Shedeur Sanders was better than Williams. This came after Sanders put up 364 yards and three touchdowns on the lowly Tennessee Titans. Williams took exception to that, and didn’t mind saying so after the Bears crushed the Browns the next week.

McCoy didn’t back off his comments. He held to the belief that Williams was too reliant on making plays outside the pocket. That changed on Sunday night in San Francisco, where the Bears quarterback lit up the 49ers for 330 yards and two touchdowns. Only then did McCoy admit he may have been mistaken.

LeSean McCoy understands what good quarterbacks look like.

He played with quite a few of them in his career. It began with Donovan McNabb in his early years with the Philadelphia Eagles, followed by Michael Vick and Nick Foles. He spent a season with Josh Allen in Buffalo, another with Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City, and his last one in Tampa Bay with Tom Brady. Say what you will of LeSean McCoy, but he at least has experience working with great quarterbacks. That is why he likely feels so confident about his assessments of the position, even if they might be premature.

His statement on Williams never felt like it came from a place of honest evaluation. He recalled what he’d seen from the USC days and thought that would always be the player Caleb would remain. There was no room to grow. The San Francisco game served as a perfect encapsulation of why it’s important to wait before assessing if a quarterback is good or not. McCoy probably thought Allen wouldn’t amount to much, given his rough rookie year. Maybe this will serve as a lesson for the future.

The Chicago Bears have had a tremendous 2025 season in almost every aspect. None more so than their running game. With one week left in the regular season, they are 3rd in rushing. Much of that is thanks to the excellent work by running backs D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai. The two have combined for over 1800 yards and 14 touchdowns this season. There is no denying the impact they’ve had. Much of the credit for this goes to Eric Bieniemy. His hiring as the running backs coach has clearly affected their development. Swift is having the best season of his career, and Monangai is a 7th round pick who might be the best #2 back in the league.

This is a big reason why head coach Ben Johnson sought him out in January. He knew Bieniemy’s reputation as one of the best in the business. It was fortuitous that the coach was available, given his recent success as an offensive coordinator. Unfortunately, it sounds like Chicago may not get to enjoy it for long. Experts believe there is a growing possibility Bieniemy will leave this offseason. The general consensus is he likely returns to Kansas City, where they could make a change at offensive coordinator following a disappointing season from Patrick Mahomes.

Bringing back Eric Bieniemy feels inevitable for the Chiefs.

He was their offensive coordinator from 2018 through 2022. In that time, Mahomes averaged 4,791 yards, 38 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. In the three years since Bieniemy left, those numbers dropped to 3,899 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. Mahomes went from the best in the sport to really good, and that has clearly made the Chiefs mortal. Whatever work Bieniemy did had an impact on their success. Bringing him back is a logical decision. It would be a pay bump for him and perhaps reignite his chance to become a head coach down the line.

The Bears can certainly beg him to stay. They could even offer a pay raise and maybe a promotion to run game coordinator. Such tactics have worked in the past. However, it feels like Eric Bieniemy made his point when he left Kansas City. While they did win another Super Bowl without him, it was already evident that the offense was losing steam even then. Things finally bottomed out this year. Kansas City knows it can’t afford to waste prime years of Mahomes anymore. Bringing Bieniemy back is the obvious decision.

San Francisco has been an offensive juggernaut for years. Everybody knew going into Sunday night that it would be difficult to slow them down. Unfortunately, the Chicago Bears couldn’t even manage that. Outside of a pick-six on the first play, the 49ers had their way most of the night. Brock Purdy scored five total touchdowns, and the offense had 496 total yards. The Bears’ defense had no answers for them, which was discouraging since San Francisco didn’t even have George Kittle available and lost Trent Williams in the middle of the game.

It became clear early on that the 49ers were exploiting two glaring weaknesses in Chicago’s defense. First was their lack of pass rush. This isn’t a big surprise. That has been a problem all year. The Bears only pressured Purdy ten times and sacked him once. You won’t stop good offenses that way. What made things worse was the alarming lack of speed on the back end. Bears linebackers really struggled to contain Purdy’s mobility while 49ers receivers were open all night. Ricky Pearsall averaged 3.31 yards of separation while Kendrick Bourne averaged 4.23.

The league average is 2.99. They were wide open.

The 49ers scored touchdowns on four of their next five possessions. For the game, they had TD drives of 65, 66, 75, 72, 65 and 75 yards. There weren’t any short fields where the defense was in a bad spot. The Bears simply had no answers for Purdy, who completed 24 of 33 passes for 303 yards and three touchdowns and ran for two more scores. Even with star tight end George Kittle missing the game with an ankle injury, Purdy feasted on open windows in the middle of the field and diced up zone coverage.

The Chicago Bears badly need speed up the middle.

That goes from up front to the safeties. None of their defensive tackles can be categorized as explosive. Gervon Dexter is more of a power player. Grady Jarrett has lost a step due to age and injuries. Tremaine Edmunds is a great athlete, but he may be hampered by the injury he sustained a few weeks ago. T.J. Edwards, for all his mental brilliance, is 29 and has been haunted by soft tissue problems all season. Kevin Byard is 32 years old. Jaquan Brisker was never known for elite range.

When your defense can’t rush the quarterback and is too slow on the back end, you are in big trouble. The Chicago Bears have survived to this point because they’re outstanding at forcing takeaways. When they can’t do that, it becomes obvious how limited they are. Sadly, there isn’t much they can do about it. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen is doing his best to mask the problems, but coaching can only do so much. This group badly needs a refresh. San Francisco was merely the most recent reminder.

The Chicago Bears won’t be able to get the #1 seed in the playoffs this year. Their loss to the San Francisco 49ers in that wild shootout made that clear. Now, fans and media are debating the obvious question. Should the team rest their starters in the season finale against the Detroit Lions? They’re already guaranteed a home game in the playoffs as NFC North champions. It feels like there won’t be much difference between the #2 seed and the #3 seed aside from determining who they play in the wild card round. However, quarterback Caleb Williams plays a big part in this decision.

With his stellar performance in San Francisco, he sits at 3,730 yards passing for the season. That means he is 270 yards away from becoming the first Bears quarterback in NFL history to throw for 4,000. You can bet head coach Ben Johnson would love nothing better than to get his young quarterback there against his former team. That aside, don’t tell Johnson the seeds don’t matter. Securing the #2 seed guarantees the Bears two home games in the playoffs, instead of just one. That matters.

Caleb Wiliams has a promise to keep.

He stated that he believed he’d get to 4,000 yards. Now he’s within reach. Don’t forget there is an element of revenge involved here. The Bears haven’t forgotten that the Lions scored 51 points against them in their last meeting. You can bet they’re itching to get some payback for that humiliation. Being the team to allow the first-ever Bears 4,000-yard passer would be a nice little rubbing of salt in the wound. The Lions have been soft against the pass for most of the past two months. Jameis Winston, Dak Prescott, and Matthew Stafford all cleared 300 easily against them.

Health is important. That is obvious. Still, the Bears have multiple things to play for. Every home game they can snag in the playoffs is important. Don’t forget this franchise is 2-6 on the road in the postseason during the Super Bowl era. Soldier Field is pivotal to any playoff ambitions they have. Using that as a pretext to get Caleb Williams to a milestone nobody else has reached in franchise history is a cherry on the sundae.