The Chicago Bears are days away from kicking off a pivotal offseason to build from the success the team had last season in the first year under head coach Ben Johnson.

In order to get over the hump and prove to the league that they’re a real Super Bowl contender, the Bears will have to make some tough decisions and find upgrades at multiple positions. And fans should expect a quieter offseason given the team’s current situation.

Using tools from Over the Cap, Spotrac, and Stick to the Model, we created a mock offseason to do just that. Here is what we think the Bears should do, not necessarily a projection of what will happen.

Starting salary cap space: -$5,300,354

Roster Cuts

• LB Tremaine Edmunds ($2,437,500 in dead money / $15,000,000 in cap savings)
• RB Roschon Johnson ($192,172 in dead money / $1,145,000 in cap savings)

Tremaine Edmunds is a dead man walking in Chicago given the fact that the Bears can clear $15 million off the cap by releasing him ahead of free agency. Despite starting the season as a Pro Bowl caliber player, Edmunds play fell after after suffering a groin injury and looking like a shell of his former self. Dennis Allen will be looking for more speed at the linebacker position and moving on from Edmunds, a Matt Eberflus-style player, seems inevitable.

As for Roschon Johnson, the former fourth-round pick in 2023 played just seven games with four offensive snaps this past season. It’s clear he’s not a fit in this new offense and moving on saves the Bears just over $1 million in cap space.

Cap space after roster cuts: $10,844,646

Contract Restructures

• DE Montez Sweat
• LG Joe Thuney
• C Drew Dalman (+ void year)

It’s clear looking at that cap space after making obvious cuts that the Bears are going to have to rework some contracts to free up more space in order to make any additions or re-signings. These three players make sense to restructure that fit into the team’s long-term plans.

A standard restructure for Montez Sweat without adding void years would free up $9.8 million. We’re taking the same approach with Joe Thuney, freeing up $7.4 million in cap space. As for Drew Dalman, we’re going to add a void year to his contract, which spreads the money over three years creating $6.5 million in cap savings for 2026.

Cap space after restructures: $34,544,646

Trade

• WR DJ Moore traded to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for 2026 third-round pick (No. 91)

This is the first tough decision for the Bears to make. DJ Moore is slated to have the team’s highest cap hit for 2026 despite being maybe the third option in the passing game next season after seeing how the receiving production looked in 2025. Trading him before June 1 would be the safe route, saving the Bears $16.5 million with $12 million in dead cap. Buffalo seems like an ideal destination given his connection with new head coach Joe Brady and the trade history between the two teams.

Cap space after trade: $51,044,646

Contract Extensions

• TE Cole Kmet (three-year, $42 million)
• RT Darnell Wright (four-year, $110 million)

Last week, I broke down this strategy more and how it’s similar to what the Buffalo Bills did with tight end Dawson Knox. On his current deal, Cole Kmet is slated to have an $11.6 million cap hit. The Bears can extend his deal (two years remaining on current deal) at a lower APY and then spread out the money over the five years. Doing so keeps Kmet under contract for the future at a more reasonable price for his current role while freeing up $2.6 million in cap space for 2026.

Prioritizing a long-term extension for Darnell Wright is just smart business coming off a season in which he was named to the second-team All Pro list. Wright gets $27.5 million per year, just below Detroit Lions right tackle Penei Sewell. It’s a fair price for him that will age well for Chicago and with the new deal, his 2026 cap hit would go up by $5,352,691.

Cap space after extensions: $48,291,965

Re-signings

• S Kevin Byard (two-year, $16 million)
• LB D’Marco Jackson (two-year, $5 million)
• WR Devin Duvernay (one-year, $2 million)
• OT Braxton Jones (one-year, $4 million)
• OL Jordan McFadden (one-year, $3.5 million)
• S Jonathan Owens (one-year, $1.215 million)
• LS Scott Daly (one-year, $1.215 million)

Kevin Byard is easily the team’s top priority when it comes to the pending free agents. After an All-Pro season, Byard is interested in re-signing and the Bears can offer a slight raise. After releasing Edmunds, it makes sense to bring D’Marco Jackson back with more money on this deal. Re-signing Braxton Jones gives the Bears another option to potentially start the season at left tackle and he’s not expected to have a strong market. The rest are depth and special teams bodies.

Cap space after re-signings: $25,861,965

Free Agent Signings

• LB Demario Davis (one-year, $8.5 million)
• S Kyle Dugger (two-year, $12 million)
• DE Azeez Ojulari (one-year, $2 million)

After off-loading Tremaine Edmunds, getting a new short-term starter for a lower price would be ideal and Demario Davis has experience playing for Dennis Allen. The next step is adding a starting safety to replace Jaquan Brisker and Kyle Duggar offers the same kind of box-safety role. Finally, I decided to take a swing on Azeez Ojulari as a depth/rotational player off the edge. Deals include void years to lower the cap hits.

Cap space after free agent signings: $9,361,965 for draft picks and in-season spending

2026 Mock Draft

• Round 1, pick 25: Kayden McDonald, DT, Ohio State
• Round 2, pick 57: Elijah Sarratt, WR, Indiana
• Round 3, pick 89: Bud Clark, S, TCU
• Round 3, pick 91: Gabe Jacas, DE, Illinois
• Round 4, pick 129: Harold Perkins Jr., OLB, LSU
• Round 5, pick 163: Noah Whittington, RB, Oregon
• Round 7, pick 239: Charles Demmings, CB, Stephen F Austin
• Round 7, pick 241: Eric Gentry, LB, USC

With re-signings and free agent additions, the Bears don’t have many starting-level holes outside of replacing DJ Moore. Kayden McDonald is a must in the first-round and has been a heavily mocked targeted to Chicago. In the second-round, Chicago adds to the WR room adding Elijah Sarratt to pair with Luther Burden III and Rome Odunze. The rest of the selections all add depth at key positions.

Final Projected Depth Chart (not including future/reserve players)

• QB: Caleb Williams and Tyson Bagent
• RB: D’Andre Swift, Kyle Monangai, Noah Whittington
• WR: Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, Elijah Sarratt, Jahdae Walker, Devin Duvernay
• TE: Colston Loveland, Cole Kmet
• OT: Darnell Wright, Ozzy Trapilo, Theo Benedet, Braxton Jones, Kiran Amegadjie
• OG: Joe Thuney, Jonah Jackson, Jordan McFadden
• C: Drew Dalman, Luke Newman
• DE: Montez Sweat, Austin Booker, Dayo Odeyingbo, Azeez Ojulari, Gabe Jacas, Harold Perkins
• DT: Grady Jarrett, Gervon Dexter, Kayden McDonald, Shemar Turner
• LB: T.J. Edwards, Demario Davis, D’Marco Jackson, Ruben Hyppolite II, Amen Ogbongbemiga, Eric Gentry
• CB: Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, Tyrique Stevenson, Zah Frazier, Charles Demmings, Terell Smith, Josh Blackwell
• S: Kevin Byard, Kyle Duggar, Bud Clark, Jonathan Owens
• ST: Cairo Santos, Tory Taylor, Scott Daly

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Kole Noble