Head coach Ben Johnson said the Chicago Bears have an interior defensive line that isn’t getting enough attention. This is fair since the trio of Jordan Van Den Berg, Neville Gallimore, and James Lynch have all looked good in the preseason. It was assumed that two of those three would land on the roster alongside Gervon Dexter and Grady Jarrett going into the season. That assumption may have been flawed. According to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, the Bears have quietly been having trade discussions involving Dexter for some time.

This might seem shocking at first. Dexter had 6 sacks last season, finishing second on the team behind Montez Sweat. Why trade him? There are a few reasons. For one, he isn’t the best fit for Dennis Allen’s defense. The Bears’ defensive coordinator prefers defensive tackles who are quick and explosive off the ball. Dexter is neither. There is also the contract situation. This will be his last season before becoming a free agent in 2027. If the Bears have no plans to extend him, and it’s looking that way, then flipping him to another team makes sense.

Gervon Dexter absolutely has value.

Contract situation aside, he is still quite young for somebody with three years of experience and coming off his most productive season. Of course, teams would be interested. He is a solid football player who would fit well in other systems. The trick is figuring out his value. Based on the age, production, health, and contract factors, the Bears are likely looking at a 3rd round pick in return for the defensive tackle. A 2nd would be possible if he were under control for more years, but that isn’t the case. Unless a team is desperate, a 3rd feels like the sweet spot.

There is also the possibility they could do a player-for-player swap. Maybe the Bears flip Gervon Dexter to another team willing to unload someone in a different position of need. A recent example saw the Tennessee Titans send big nose tackle T’Vondre Sweat to the New York Jets in exchange for edge rusher Jermaine Johnson. Is there an edge rusher, left tackle, safety, or cornerback out there that the Bears like? Maybe they can pry Joey Porter Jr. from Pittsburgh.

It’s unfortunate that things have come to this.

Alas, this is what can happen when you change coaching staff. If Matt Eberflus were still around, there is no question Dexter would be in line for a payday. Once Allen took over, the priorities in personnel changed. When that happens, players previously considered safe become uncertain. That is what happened with Dexter. He just doesn’t fit the mold of what this staff wants. While he was productive last season, he wasn’t quite disruptive enough. The 6 sacks masked a rather pedestrian 43 pressures. That was good for 20th in the league last season among defensive tackles.

Van Den Berg’s ascent over the past three weeks undoubtedly plays a role in this decision. The Bears are truly excited about the rookie from Georgia Tech. His explosiveness is something they’ve been missing. A foursome of him, Jarrett, Gallimore, and Lynch should be plenty adequate. Remember, the Bears only have six picks in next year’s draft. Flipping a player they have no intention of bringing back to bring that number up makes sense.

The buzz around Caleb Williams has been steadily building heading into 2026. It’s easy to see why. His finish to 2025 was some of the most epic play a quarterback has ever produced for the Chicago Bears. That was in a brand new offense that Williams barely understood for much of the early season. Now he’s had two summers to learn it in depth and has demonstrated a growing mastery of its intricacies. Usually, when this happens, there is a significant jump in productivity.

However, better stats aren’t the endgame for Williams. His goals go so much higher than 4,000 yards and making a Pro Bowl. He wants to win championships. Plural. To do that, more is required from him than just individual excellence. Great teams have quarterbacks who are leaders. They seize control of the locker room, making sure everybody is on the same page. There have been glimpses of Williams embracing this responsibility. The latest episode of 1920 Football Drive offered the biggest yet.

It shows the quarterback standing in the middle of a huddle during training camp, giving a fiery speech to his teammates.

Caleb Williams keeps evolving.

This is often lost on people during draft evaluation. Many don’t leave room for the possibility that young players can mature. Not every quarterback will be the perfect prospect. Some will have fundamental issues, be it with footwork or throwing mechanics. Others will have maturity issues, still too caught up in the college culture. Just look at Brett Favre. He had both problems. Yet through maturation and good coaching, he transformed into an all-time great. If he got the time to figure things out, why not Williams?

This is where the Bears deserve praise. They’ve never once wavered in their approach to helping their young quarterback improve. He was drafted with full knowledge that he still had a lot to learn. While more mature than others his age, he hadn’t yet learned what it truly meant to be a leader. Head coach Ben Johnson and his staff conveyed the right message to him and, to his credit, Caleb Williams listened. Now he is molding into the total package. Guys are responding to him. He is in control.

Williams has crossed a threshold others failed to.

Previous Bears 1st round picks never really grasped the leadership baton as much as they should’ve. Justin Fields, Rex Grossman, and Cade McNown all worked hard, sure. Yet it never felt like they seized command of the locker room. Mitch Trubisky was an underrated leader. He embraced that side of the job quite well. Unfortunately, he just didn’t have the talent or production to back it up. Jim McMahon was the closest the organization came. He was an outspoken leader and played well. Sadly, injuries kept ruining it.

Williams has reached the precipice. He has the leadership, talent, and (knock on wood) the durability to make it all work. He’s also in a system designed to protect him. It is crazy to think the Bears actually did everything right for once. They laid the foundation and picked the right quarterback. Williams isn’t perfect. He has areas to improve. That said, the bust fears are long gone. Chicago found its guy.

The Chicago Bears may not have made their final roster decisions official yet. However, anybody with common sense knows that the coaching staff has a pretty good idea of which way they’re going. They know who is a lock for the roster and who is gone. The only remaining discussions concern the final spots at every position. Do they go light at one position so they can go heavy at another? Who are they confident they can stash on the practice squad without risk of losing a player they like?

Knowing all of the factors in play, here is my official prediction for the Bears’ roster come the final cuts. There aren’t any gigantic surprises, but there were certainly a few nailbiters.

Chicago Bears QBs: Caleb Williams, Tyson Bagent, Case Keenum

Zero surprises here. It is the same setup as last season, with Williams leading the way while Bagent serves as the primary backup, and Keenum is essentially a player-coach on the sideline. Miller Moss didn’t show much in camp or the preseason to change this.

RB: D’Andre Swift, Kyle Monangai, Roschon Johnson, Salvon Ahmed

Monangai’s knee injury status likely pushes the Bears to play it safe by keeping two backs instead of one. Johnson is still a good short-yardage back who helps on special teams. Ahmed can provide the versatility they want in the passing game, adding some needed burst to the backfield.

WR: Rome Odunze, Luther Burden, Kalif Raymond, Zavion Thomas, Jahdae Walker, Kaden Davis

Davis is the big winner. He has put together a truly impressive month of work, taking all the big plays from practice and turning them into big plays in the preseason. He’s earned that spot over Scotty Miller and the other hopefuls. Everybody else was never really in question.

TE: Colston Loveland, Cole Kmet, Sam Roush

Hayden Large has really made a strong impression this past month. Under different circumstances, the undrafted tight end would crack the roster, but the Chicago Bears don’t have the spots to spare. A trio of Loveland, Kmet, and Roush is more than enough to cover all of their bases.

OL: Braxton Jones, Ozzy Trapilo, Joe Thuney, Garrett Bradbury, Logan Jones, Jonah Jackson, Darnell Wright, Jordan McFadden, Theo Benedet, Luke Newman

With this setup, the Bears maintain good depth at all three positions up front. Jones will serve as the starter to open the season until Trapilo is healthy enough to take over. McFadden and Newman will handle the guard duties while Jones backs up Bradbury in the middle. That leaves Benedet as a sort of piece they can move around as needed.

DL: Montez Sweat, Austin Booker, Marcus Davenport, Daniel Hardy, Dayo Odeyingbo, Grady Jarrett, Gervon Dexter, Neville Gallimore, Jordan Van Den Berg

This is tough since the Bears have a lot of intriguing options at defensive tackle. The problem is, they can’t afford to leave Hardy off. He is too important to their special teams. Having an experienced trio to help guide Van Den Berg feels like the right play, while it is hoped Davenport and Odeyingbo can stay healthy.

LB: D’Marco Jackson, T.J. Edwards, Devin Bush, Jack Sanborn, Keyshaun Elliott

Ruben Hyppolite would’ve been on this list if he hadn’t injured his shoulder after the first preseason game. It was another reminder that his body might not be up to the rigors of this league. Sanborn may not be a top athlete, but he’s sturdy and dependable. The Bears aren’t likely to cut Elliott despite him missing training camp with an undisclosed injury.

CB: Jaylon Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson, Kyler Gordon, Cam Lewis, Malik Muhammad, Josh Blackwell

Johnson and Stevenson are likely starters. The unknown is who will replace Gordon at nickel until he’s ready. Lewis feels like the obvious choice unless the coaches decide to gamble on Muhammad. The 4th round pick has played there almost exclusively throughout the preseason. Blackwell, another core special teamer, also wins out.

S: Dillon Thieneman, Xavier Woods, Elijah Hicks, Skyler Thomas

*Coby Bryant is on IR

Since Lewis is capable of playing safety as well, the Chicago Bears aren’t pressed to go heavy at safety, even with Bryant out. Woods should be a solid starter once he’s back from his hamstring issue. Hicks is a special teams ace, and Thomas has really earned his way into a spot after a strong camp.

SPEC: Cairo Santos, Beau Gardner, Tory Taylor

Gardner won the long snapping job early in camp. Santos and Taylor remain entrenched as the kicker and punter, respectively—pretty good continuity in the third phase.

Dan Hampton has watched a lot of Chicago Bears football in his life. Pretty much since 1979. In that time, he played with several and watched even more as an analyst and fan. As a former defensive lineman himself, Hampton can imagine he is excited by the brief snapshots he’s gotten of Jordan Van Den Berg. The 6th round defensive tackle from Georgia Tech has been wreaking havoc in Bears training camp and the preseason. His mix of power and explosiveness has many wondering where the hell he came from. How did a talent this clear fall so far?

That is a long story. The easiest explanation is that Van Den Berg started his football career late as a South African native. He got a scholarship from Penn State, but failed to crack the starting lineup for three years. This forced him to risk transferring to Georgia Tech, where he blossomed into a quality starter by 2025. That is how the Bears noticed him. After watching the rookie for weeks, Hampton saw familiar memories stir up. He told Sports Mockery’s Kevin Wells that the Bears may have something.

The Jordan Van Den Berg comp to Steve McMichael isn’t crazy.

Just start with the physical dimensions. They are virtually the same height with similar length. McMichael was 40 lbs lighter, but that was the normal range for defensive tackles in that era. Both ran a sub-5.0 in the 40-yard dash, demonstrating explosiveness. Most of all, “Mongo” was known best for his aggressive and relentless style of play. It was a big reason why he had 90 sacks in his career.

People these days always assume McMichael was some hot prospect when he got to Chicago. That is not the case at all. He was a 3rd round pick of the New England Patriots and cut after his first season with the team. The Bears took a chance on him in 1982, and he eventually developed into a Hall of Fame player. Jordan Van Den Berg might be coming from a different background, but he has the same mentality. Seek and destroy. No wonder Hampton likes him already.

Hampton sees the talent. Will the rookie have the will?

That is what separated McMichael from many others. For as much talent as he had, the Bears legend was a tireless worker who took no prisoners on Sundays. Finding somebody with that level of willpower is difficult. Based on what we’ve seen over the last two weeks, Van Den Berg checks the boxes. There are no plays taken off. He is flying to the football on every snap. That is stuff you can’t teach. It is what made McMichael nigh-unblockable for over a decade.

The trick for Van Den Berg is bridging the gap between talent and technique. It’s one thing to be so gifted, but it won’t matter much if you can’t sharpen it enough to matter. The best players are the ones who can focus their abilities. The rookie isn’t there yet. He’s out of control and not playing with proper fundamentals. That isn’t a surprise. He’s young and still relatively inexperienced. The good news is that he has an excellent mentor guiding him in Grady Jarrett. If Van Den Berg follows his instructions, he will get a lot better quickly.

The Chicago Bears haven’t come any closer to solving their left tackle problems. For the second year in a row, a competition in training camp yielded no results. Braxton Jones once again appears on the cusp of winning by default because every other option has been worse. Theo Benedet, Jedrick Wills, and Kiran Amegadjie all struggled at different points this preseason. Even Jones had some rough moments. It’s just that he is a little more consistent. One thing is undeniable from all of this. Ozzy Trapilo can’t return quickly enough.

Everybody was stunned at the news that the former 2nd round pick had returned to practice just eight months after tearing his patellar tendon in the playoffs. It was a medical marvel. Still, this didn’t immediately indicate when Trapilo actually starts playing again. Is opening day even possible? Probably not. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune made it sound like the Bears have no intention of rushing Trapilo back that fast. They intend to make sure he is absolutely 100% recovered, mentally and physically, before getting him out there. That means one course of action.

Ozzy Trapilo likely ends up on Injured Reserve.

My hunch is the Bears will move Trapilo to injured reserve either simultaneous to forming the 53-man roster or right after. There just isn’t enough time for him to be game ready, and remember what Ben Johnson said: They want Trapilo to be able to build back his confidence.

I referenced in last week’s mailbag that if the Bears, in hindsight, felt they might have pushed Braxton Jones a little too quickly last summer in his return from a serious injury, that’s a good reason to proceed cautiously with Trapilo.

Folks will ask what a timeline for Trapilo being on the field looks like, and I don’t think anyone can provide the answer. If he winds up starting the season on injured reserve, he’ll be sidelined for at least the first four games. That shouldn’t disappoint anyone. Returning in the first half of the season would put him significantly ahead of where the team envisioned he might be back when the offseason program began.

This approach is probably the smart one.

The Bears learned some tough lessons last season with Jones. It became apparent even before the start of last season that the left tackle wasn’t healthy. It felt like he’d rushed back early for training camp, not wanting to lose his job. While commendable, it ultimately hurt his performance on the field. After a month, the coaches had seen enough, benching him in favor of Benedet, who in turn was benched for Trapilo. One can safely assume the Bears don’t want to repeat the same mistakes with him.

Even if he’s feeling recovered, that does not mean he is ready to play. His conditioning isn’t where it needs to be yet. One can’t expect him to get there in just a few short weeks. He needs time. The Bears cannot afford to rush the process. They view Ozzy Trapilo as a core piece of their future on offense. That means doing things the right way to make sure he is around in the long term. If that means sacrificing a month’s worth of games, so be it. The Bears likely feel they can survive four games with Jones in the lineup.

The Bears already have proof of concept.

Remember, it took a long time for them to ramp up Austin Booker when he returned from his knee injury last season. Some wondered if there had been complications. In reality, that was probably the first example of the team learning its lesson from the Jones situation. Thus, when Booker returned in the second half of the season, he actually played quite well. He was a big part of their push in December to lock up the division. The hope is they can now repeat this approach with Trapilo.

It’s fair to assume the young tackle is anxious to get back. He wouldn’t have attacked the rehab process so fervently if that weren’t the case. He may feel he can play opening day. After all, there is still a month to go before week one. That is plenty of time to get himself in shape and back up to speed. This is a situation where the team must protect the player from himself. Trapilo will play in 2026. He’ll just have to wait a little longer. A few extra weeks won’t hurt anything.