What a 2025 NFL expansion draft would mean for the Bears, here's who would be protected and which players would be up for grabs
We are in the heart of the NFL offseason, which is the best time to make some hypothetical content and see how it could affect various teams around the league.Last week, our own A to Z Sports' Tyler Forness constructed his own NFL player Flag Football roster for the 2028 Olympics.Next week, the site will […]
We are in the heart of the NFL offseason, which is the best time to make some hypothetical content and see how it could affect various teams around the league.
Last week, our own A to Z Sports' Tyler Forness constructed his own NFL player Flag Football roster for the 2028 Olympics.
Next week, the site will have a series of articles predicting what an NFL expansion franchise would look like, including how the front office, coaching staff, expansion draft roster, and more would be constructed.
With this exercise, each team writer was assigned to protect players on the 90/91-rosters, leaving 12 players unprotected to be available in the expansion draft. Here are the guidelines: Players with zero or one accrued NFL season are automatically protected and players with no-trade clauses can't be on the list.
That being said, here's how things would look for the Chicago Bears, starting with the protected players on the roster.
Protected players with zero or one accrued NFL season
- QB Caleb Williams
- WR Rome Odunze
- OT Kiran Amegadjie
- P Tory Taylor
- DE Austin Booker
- TE Colston Loveland
- WR Luther Burden III
- OT Ozzy Trapilo
- DT Shemar Turner
- LB Ruben Hyppolite II
- CB Zah Frazier
- OL Luke Newman
- RB Kyle Monangai
- QB Austin Reed
- RB Ian Wheeler
- OL Theo Benedet
- S Major Burns
- DE Xavier Carlton
- LB Power Echols
- LS Luke Elkin
- RB Deion Hankins
- S Tysheem Johnson
- K Jonathan Kim
- WR JP Richardson
- DE Jereme Robinson
- WR Jahdae Walker
- CB Jeremiah Walker
- WR Maurice Alexander
- LB Swayze Bozeman
- WR John Jackson
- LB Carl Jones
- DL Jamree Kromah
- TE Jordan Murray
- TE Joel Wilson
- OL Bill Murray
For the most part, all of these players are 2024-2025 draft selections or undrafted free agent signings. These players will be automatically protected.
Assigned Protected Players
- WR DJ Moore
- TE Cole Kmet
- DE Montez Sweat
- RB D'Andre Swift
- CB Jaylon Johnson
- LB Tremaine Edmunds
- LB T.J. Edwards
- QB Tyson Bagent
- QB Case Keenum
- S Kevin Byard
- S Jaquan Brisker
- CB Kyler Gordon
- CB Tyrique Stevenson
- CB Terell Smith
- DT Gervon Dexter Sr.
- DT Grady Jarrett
- DE Dayo Odeyingbo
- RT Darnell Wright
- LG Joe Thuney
- LT Braxton Jones
- C Drew Dalman
- RG Jonah Jackson
- DL Daniel Hardy
- RB Roschon Johnson
- LB Noah Sewell
- CB Josh Blackwell
- S Elijah Hicks
- S Jonathan Owens
- OL Doug Kramer
- LS Scott Daly
- K Cairo Santos
- WR Devin Duvernay
- WR Olamide Zaccheaus
- OL Ryan Bates
- DT Andrew Billings
- TE Durham Smythe
- S Tarvarius Moore
- DB Nahshon Wright
- OL Joshua Miles
- CB Ameer Speed
- DT Zacch Pickens
- OL Jordan McFadden
These are the players I would personally protect, and some of these players were tough calls. When it comes to protecting players, sometimes the trick is being able to offload huge contracts, which made players like Edmunds and Swift in consideration to leave off the list. Ultimately, I opted to keep the main core players protected, along with the majority of the free agent signings.
12 Unprotected Players
- WR Tyler Scott
- LB Amen Ogbongbemiga
- DT Chris Williams
- RB Travis Homer
- DE Dominique Robinson
- WR Samori Toure
- WR Miles Boykin
- CB Shaun Wade
- DB Nick McCloud
- TE Stephen Carlson
- OL Chris Glaser
- DT Johnathan Ford
So, this would be the list I send in unprotected for St. Louis to potentially draft. There were some tough calls such as Zacch Pickens getting kept over Chris Williams and Johnathan Ford. Or Tyler Scott getting left off the list in favor of Devin Duvernay and Olamide Zaccheaus.
Overall, these 12 players aren't critical pieces to this roster. Any of the final six protected players could have easily been left unprotected as well, making this a difficult process.
Stayed tuned for the actual expansion draft in a couple of days on A to Z Sports to see if any of these Chicago players get drafted by the new team or not.
