Bears big-ticket free agent signing finally makes a decision fans were waiting on and immediately explains his reasoning
Chicago Bears made a splash in free agency to bring in former Seattle Seahawks safety Coby Bryant and he just announced his first big decision to start the new era of his career.
The Chicago Bears made a big splash in free agency when the team moved quick to acquire former Seattle Seahawks safety Coby Bryant in the first step to retool the defense with a faster and more physical player.
The Bears are absolutely thrilled with the decision and Bryant is equally excited to join a team that showed so much interest in bringing him in.
Fans should be pumped about Bryant joining the team in 2026 and now can start showing their support for him after Bryant made his first big decision since joining the roster.
Coby Bryant chooses his new jersey number with the Bears and is going back to his roots
Any time a new player joins a roster, the first big decision that player has to make is deciding what number to wear with their new team. Sometimes players even pay returning players to acquire a specific number already in use.
Fans absolutely eat this kind of stuff up and everyone was wondering what decision Bryant was going to make when it came to decision on the number he would wear with the Bears.
In Seattle, Bryant wore the number 8 in honor of the great sports icon and NBA legend Kobe Bryant. While talking with Kay Adams on the Up & Adams Show, Bryant noted his initial preference was to remain wearing 8, or switch to Kobe’s other number (24), if he couldn’t get the number 8 from Bears kicker Cairo Santos.
“I got some things cooking up, but I’m definitely reached out to him and asked him about the number eight,” Bryant explained. “He was very cool about it, so we’re trying to come to an agreement pretty soon. I don’t have a set number yet, I don’t want to speak too soon, but definitely have two options.”
Bryant has finally announced his decision, and he’s actually going with option #3. Bryant will be wearing the number 2 with the Chicago Bears, last worn by wide receiver DJ Moore. Even though he’s not sticking with the Kobe-theme, Bryant still had a valid reasoning behind the new number.
Hundreds of Bears fans rocked the number 2 in support of DJ Moore, a fan-favorite that was traded to the Buffalo Bills earlier this offseason. Now, they’ll have a new #2 to support.
Other jersey numbers announced for the rest of Chicago’s free agent class
The Bears also announced the jersey numbers for the other new additions, including some changes with returning players such as wide receiver Jahdae Walker switching from #20 to #9. Here’s the full announcement.
With the decisions now official, jersey sales should go live soon on the Chicago Bears Shop for fans to gear up ahead of the 2026 season.
