Ryan Poles and the Bears reach some last minute deals to prevent pending free agents from hitting the open market
The Chicago Bears are getting to work re-signing their own before bringing in new additions.
Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles has always done a great job of taking care of his players, even when it comes time to move on, something we saw again this offseason with the team’s decision to trade DJ Moore to the Buffalo Bills and allow Tremaine Edmunds to seek out a trade before releasing him ahead of free agency.
When it comes to re-signing players, Poles again always does a great job working out fair deals to keep core players in the building.
Hours before the start of the legal tampering period (unofficial start of free agency), the Bears have started making some last minute deals to prevent pending free agents from hitting the open market.
Bears reach new deals with Daniel Hardy and D’Marco Jackson ahead of free agency
The first big re-signing/extension made by the Bears ahead of free agency was bringing back another core special teamer in Daniel Hardy, similar to how the team made Josh Blackwell and Amen Ogbongbemiga the first re-signings last offseason.
Hardy and the Bears agreed to a two-year deal worth up to $6 million. It’s technically a two-year deal at $4.97 million with added incentives and bonuses that can reach that $6 million mark. It’s a solid deal for a player that played 355 special teams snaps and recorded over 20 special teams tackles in 2025. Hardy joined the team in 2023 and has continued to impress with his work ethic.
Linebacker D’Marco Jackson was the next player to get a new deal with the team. Jackson and the Bears agreed to a two-year, $7.5 million deal that could be worth up to 10.5 million. Re-signing Jackson was a logical move after the team parted ways with Tremaine Edmunds.
Jackson originally joined the Bears in August with a base salary of $1.1 million after being released by the New Orleans Saints. Though he was signed as a depth linebacker and special teams body, injuries allowed Jackson to get some playing time as a starter and produced really promising results. Getting $3.75 is a little higher than I expected but still a solid deal for a player that should see some solid playing time as the LB 2/3 depending on if another linebacker is signed off the market.
The big name still in question is All-Pro safety Kevin Byard III. The last we heard, Byard was 70-30 about returning to Chicago and there’s mutual interest between the two sides. The sticking point is likely how much of a pay bump he gets and if he gets a multi-year or one-year deal. Regardless, I would be stunned if Byard isn’t back in Chicago.
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