The Chicago Bears have insisted that competition for multiple jobs will be wide open during this training camp. However, as any experienced fan knows, some competitions are judged differently than others. Some are indeed relatively even with multiple players getting serious looks. Others are competitions in names only. That means one player already went into it heavily favored by the coaching staff. Normally, the Bears’ coaching staff wouldn’t let anyone know that until later in camp at the earliest. However, Press Taylor may have let the cat out of the bag.

The new offensive coordinator spoke to Ben Solak of ESPN about the state of the center position as training camp got underway. Many had assumed this would pit veteran Garrett Bradbury against rookie 2nd round pick Logan Jones. However, all signs have indicated Bradbury is the only one getting first-team reps. Taylor could’ve tried to coachspeak his way out of any questions about it. Instead, he delivered a simple statement that was impossible to misinterpret.

I was surprised to learn that second-round rookie Logan Jones has not cracked the first-team rotation at all, with veteran Garrett Bradbury manning the center position uncontested. So it seems clear that the Bears want to start the season with Bradbury, giving him every rep necessary to get up to speed. “It is not easy to play center in our scheme,” offensive coordinator Press Taylor said. Then he repeats it in case I didn’t get it: “It is not easy to play center in our scheme.”

Press Taylor all but pointed the finger.

The Bears’ plan seems pretty obvious at this point. They traded for Bradbury shortly after Drew Dalman retired this offseason. It was a necessary pivot to prevent too much upheaval on the offensive line. The problem was that Bradbury only had one year left on his contract. Couple that with him being in his 30s, and the team knew they’d have to go hunting for a long-term solution. That is how they landed on Jones in the draft. Both problems have been solved. Bradbury will be the starter this season. He’s experienced and already knows how to communicate well. Learning a new offense quickly is something he knows how to do.

Jones will spend the season learning from him and diving into the playbook, mastering its intricacies. Come 2027, Bradbury will be allowed to hit free agency. Jones will then take over as the permanent starter, having a year to prepare. It’s a good plan. This way, they give Bradbury a chance to continue playing and building his case for whichever team decides to sign him next. Meanwhile, they don’t have to overwhelm the rookie right away by throwing him onto the field too soon.

Only two things could change this outcome.

Either Jones begins to really play well while Bradbury struggles, or the latter gets injured. The former scenario feels unlikely. Bradbury is too consistent at this stage of his career to suffer long stretches of bad football. This is a case where the rookie will just have to wait his turn. Press Taylor and the Bears have big plans for Jones. Head coach Ben Johnson stated how “smitten” he is with the Iowa product. They wouldn’t have drafted him that high if they didn’t think he could play. This is more a case of not playing the rookie unless given no other choice.

That is how they approached it with Ozzy Trapilo last season. The only reason the 2nd round pick even saw the field was that Braxton Jones couldn’t stay healthy, and Theo Benedet couldn’t pass protect. Otherwise, he never would’ve played before this season. Bradbury is a much more formidable obstacle compared to Jones and Benedet. That is why fans may have to accept a delay to the Jones era at center.

Last year, the wide receiver Jahdae Walker became the darling of the Chicago Bears training camp. An undrafted free agent out of Texas A&M, most didn’t expect much from him. He ended up putting in good work during practice and carried that over to the preseason, earning himself a roster spot. All of it culminated in that magic moment against the Green Bay Packers, catching a game-tying touchdown on 4th down to force overtime. Now he’s looking more and more like a fixture on the roster for this team.

Unsurprisingly, people wondered if the Bears could somehow do it again. Could they pluck someone from obscurity and turn them into a real contributor? Early signs from training camp suggest they may have found such a candidate.

Kaden Davis was a late addition to the roster, arriving on June 16th after a tryout with the team. Before that, he played in the United Football League for the Houston Gamblers. There, he primarily served as a kick returner. Davis has a well-traveled career thus far. He was an undrafted free agent in 2022 out of Northwest Missouri State. Since then, he’s had stints with the Denver Broncos, Michigan Panthers, Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, and the Gamblers. To date, his only work in the NFL outside of the preseason was a couple of kick returns in Cleveland.

Davis is even more of a long shot than Jahdae Walker.

Walker was plucked straight out of college by the Bears. They had a clear plan for him from the start. Davis was more of a mystery. Knowledge of his capabilities was minimal, given his journeyman career and overall lack of usage. Even his college output was somewhat odd. He only had one standout year in 2021 with 714 yards and 10 touchdowns. The most notable trait about him was his speed. He was clocked at 4.44 ahead of the 2022 draft, which fit with his return man abilities.

So, how serious a threat is he to make this roster? The Bears are not nearly as depleted at wide receiver as they’ve been in years past. Rome Odunze, Luther Burden, and Kalif Raymond make up your likely starting three. Then you have 3rd round pick Zavion Thomas and Jahdae Walker himself, both likely getting spots. That leaves one remaining spot open. Most believe veteran Scotty Miller is the favorite to take it. Based on updates from Halas Hall, it sounds like Davis is challenging that assumption.

Davis does have one advantage.

Unlike Walker last season, he brings considerable special teams experience with him. Much of that comes as a kick returner, but he’s also played as a gunner in coverage. That could give him a decisive edge in the competition with Miller and others. This, of course, presumes his early success on offense persists through the rest of August. He is certainly an easy person to root for. Many players would’ve stepped away from football long ago, discouraged at their lack of opportunities.

Davis has stayed the course, fighting every year to keep his dream alive. Could this be his breakthrough moment? Time will tell. Sometimes it takes players a few years to get established. People forget that Davis had limited experience in college, and he came from a smaller school. He was always a project. The problem was that he didn’t have the cushion of being a high draft pick to give him the time he needed. Maybe the Bears caught the receiver at the right moment.

If you ask Chicago Bears fans whether Caleb Williams is the real deal at quarterback, you won’t hear any hesitation. In their minds, he is the franchise player they’ve waited literal decades for. This stems from what he has accomplished over his first two years. He had the best rookie passing season in franchise history and had the longest streak without an interception. Then last season, he led seven 4th quarter comebacks, went 11-6, won the division, beat Green Bay in the playoffs, and threw for a franchise-record 3,941 yards.

Opinions at the national level are more divisive. Some already see Williams as a top 10 quarterback, putting him on the cover of Madden. Others believe he isn’t yet polished enough to even be called a good quarterback. In situations like this, it is worth discovering what people inside the league think. Mike Sando of The Athletic got to the bottom of it with his annual survey of executives and coaches for his Quarterback Tiers. Williams finished 11th overall in the ranking. However, it came with an interesting note. Opinions were split almost straight down the line between the two groups.

Execs generally liked Williams more than coaches did. All eight GMs placed him in Tier 2, while coaches supplied 11 of his 14 votes in Tier 3. That is likely because coaches are more apt to want quarterbacks to play on time.

“He is a high 3 or low 2 with the ability to go either way, kind of like Josh Allen at (the same) point in his career,” a defensive coordinator said. “He is an exciting player, definitely athletic. The good thing for him, just like Lamar (Jackson) and Josh (Allen) at this stage: It doesn’t look like the moment is too big for him.”

This was echoed perfectly by an offensive coach, who pointed out the high-risk, high-reward style Williams seems to excel at.

“Chicago probably holds the ball longer than most teams just with the stuff they do,” an offensive coach said. “Then you add on Caleb’s escapability. He gets out of so many that should be sacks for 90 percent of the league.”

Caleb Williams is a perfect encapsulation of the execs-coaches divide.

If you go back through NFL history, there has always been a disagreement between general managers and coaches about the types of quarterbacks they prefer. Most of the time, coaches prefer your classic field generals: smart, efficient, accurate, and poised in the pocket. They want guys who will run the system, serving as a direct extension of the coach’s will. Drew Brees is a great example. He was the perfect conductor for Sean Payton’s offense in New Orleans. However, executives tend to focus on the potential of a quarterback.

They focus on the talent. This guy has all the tools necessary to dominate the league. If he can be taught to play the position like a professional, there is no ceiling to what he can do. Patrick Mahomes is that archetype. Nobody considered him a field general. He was a classic gunslinger with an unbelievable arm and natural playmaking instincts. Kansas City took a gamble on that potential. He developed under Andy Reid into one of the most dynamic threats at the position today. Caleb Williams falls into the latter category.

Most coaches don’t like quarterbacks like that because of the unpredictability. They don’t know how to harness it properly. It was the problem many thought would create a divide between Williams and head coach Ben Johnson.

It all comes down to who can embrace the chaos.

Certain quarterbacks just don’t play by the book. They have to trust their instincts, and some of them have the rare ability to make things happen outside the offensive structure. What makes them so tricky for coaches is you can’t let them lean on that ability exclusively in the NFL. It may create lots of highlights, but it doesn’t win championships. We saw that with previous great scramblers like Randall Cunningham and Michael Vick. By contrast, you also don’t want to restrict their creativity by trying to force them to be strictly pocket guys.

That is what happened to Vince Young in Tennessee, Robert Griffin III in Washington, and Marcus Mariota in Tennessee. The trick is allowing those guys to still utilize their talents, but also teaching them to stay in the pocket unless given no choice. We’ve seen many more success stories in that vein over the past 20 years, like Russell Wilson, Jalen Hurts, Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, and Josh Allen. You can probably count Williams among that number now.

Coaches not liking it is more about their own discomfort than his being a bad quarterback.

Most people considered the Maxx Crosby discussion dead by the end of spring. The star pass rusher had wanted out of Las Vegas after another brutal season. The Raiders granted his wish, sending him to the Baltimore Ravens. Then that team got cold feet, rescinded the trade on a failed physical technicality, and signed Trey Hendrickson instead. It was a greasy move by Baltimore, but ultimately Crosby landed back in Vegas, where he immediately declared his intention to stay. Everybody thought that was the end of it.

Adam Schefter isn’t convinced of that. The ESPN insider went on his podcast to discuss the situation. From what he understands, the Crosby situation is still very much up in the air. He believes that if the Raiders get off to another poor start this season, which is entirely possible in that AFC West division, there is a strong possibility the team decides to move the defensive end at the trade deadline. Were that to happen, the two teams to watch are the Dallas Cowboys and the Chicago Bears.

“I think as the trade deadline gets closer, I think that’s when we could start hearing Max Crosby’s name again, and I think that’s when it might be time to start paying attention. Now, maybe I’m going to be surprised and they trade in the summer, but that’s not what I’m expecting. It’s not what I’m hearing.”

It sounds like the Bears haven’t given up the Maxx Crosby chase.

They were one of the teams believed to be involved in the original sweepstakes months ago. Baltimore won out because they were willing to give up two 1st round picks. That has consistently been a red line Bears general manager Ryan Poles has been unwilling to cross. He does not want to mortgage the future for one player, even one as good as Crosby. If a deal were to happen, the most he would probably agree to is a 1st and a 3rd or 4th round pick. With what happened this offseason, the list of teams able to make such a trade has dropped.

Meanwhile, the Bears didn’t make any significant moves along the defensive line this offseason. Their most notable signing was backup defensive tackle Neville Gallimore. Otherwise, they stated they were content sticking with the current setup of Montez Sweat, Austin Booker, and a returning Dayo Odeyingbo. Of course, that all changes if they believe Maxx Crosby is there for the taking. His presence would instantly energize the entire front. Couple that with a (hopefully) healthy secondary, and you’re cooking with gas.

The Raiders’ early schedule may assist.

After a semi-soft start against the Miami Dolphins, Las Vegas faces a brutal six-game stretch against the Chargers, Saints, Chiefs, Patriots, Bills, and Rams. It would be a minor miracle if that team wins more than two games in that stretch. As Schefter said, if the Raiders reach the October 31st trade deadline at 1-6 or 2-5, Crosby may decide he can’t endure another brutal losing season. He may give the team a green light to reopen the trade talks. That will be the Bears’ window to strike.

The tricky part is money. Crosby is signed through 2029 with salary cap hits hovering between $27 million and $29 million. It is $35 million this season. Currently, Chicago ranks near the bottom of the league with $8 million in cap space. They would have to do some serious restructuring of their books to make it happen. It’s possible. They have several options, and can also unload some of their more bloated contract next offseason. Much will depend on where the Bears sit in the standings. If they’re in the playoff hunt as many hope, then such a move makes sense.

When training camp began, reporters asked right tackle Darnell Wright if he had any concerns about getting a contract extension done with the Chicago Bears. After all, this is the final year of his rookie deal. The team had already picked up his 5th-year options, but most players prefer getting something done before that. Some even decide to conduct holdouts or hold-ins to make sure their demands are clear. Not Wright. He showed up for camp ready to work from the start and told the media that he has no concerns about talks. From his point of view, he plans to be in Chicago for a long time.

In hindsight, he probably knew something was imminent. Mere days later, news broke. The two sides have reached an agreement. Wright gets a new 4-year deal worth $116 million with $93 million guaranteed. This now makes him the highest-paid right tackle in the league, beating out Tristan Wirfs, and the second-highest-paid offensive lineman over at $29 million per year. That $93 million guaranteed also blows the rest of the market away. Before that, the highest was $67 million for Andrew Thomas in New York.

No doubt this deal makes a lot of other young tackles in the league very happy.

The Darnell Wright pick might be Ryan Poles’ masterstroke.

People must go back and examine how all of that came to be. Thanks to a stroke of good fortune from Houston, the Bears landed the #1 pick in the 2023 draft. Rather than take a gamble on a quarterback, the young general manager chose the bold move of trading the selection. He flipped it to the Carolina Panthers for the #9 pick, wide receiver D.J. Moore, and a host of extra draft picks, including a future 1st rounder. Then when Chicago went on the clock, he worked out a deal with Philadelphia, who wanted defensive tackle Jalen Carter, to swap spots. The Bears got an extra 4th round pick out of the deal.

Poles then did what he’d always planned, selecting Darnell Wright 10th overall.

It was considered a risky move at the time. Wright wasn’t seen as a top 10 prospect in that draft. Most had him ranked in the late teens or early 20s. Poles didn’t see it that way. Wright’s unique blend of size, power, and mobility wasn’t appreciated enough. He was the top-rated pass protector in the SEC. With the right coaching, the Bears saw a potential star. Three years later, Wright claimed second-team All-Pro honors while helping the team win the division for the first time in seven years.

This extension for Wright sends a perfect message.

Chicago has stated from the beginning of Poles’ tenure that they want to build through the draft. That means selecting a talent, developing them into a top player, and rewarding them with an extension. The Bears haven’t had many chances to do that yet as they’ve worked to rebuild the roster. This massive payday for Wright is an unmistakable signal to everybody else on the team.

If you give us everything you have and show up on Sundays, we’ll reward you.

The primary motivations of every player come in two forms: winning and money. Both are often intertwined with each other. If players help the team win, they get their money. Or at least that is how it’s supposed to work. The Bears wanted to make their stance crystal clear. They could’ve played this out, tried haggling Wright down to fewer guarantees.

Nope. It was a message. If you push this organization to success, it will try like hell to ensure you stick around for years to come. For all the talk about the McCaskeys being cheap, this serves as another reminder that they don’t mind opening the checkbook when it’s warranted.