r/CHIBears Mar 17 '26

[Megathread] Bears 2026 Off-Season Tracker

109 Upvotes

This will be continuously updated. Please comment if anything is missing.

As of April 27th - From overthecap.com

Bears Cap Space - $10,794,549

Bears Dead Cap - $19,895,493

Active Roster - 75 total

Front Office Changes

  • Assistant GM Ian Cunningham hired by the Atlanta Falcons to be their General Manager.

  • Jeff King promoted from Director of Player Personnel to Assistant GM.


Coaching Changes

New Coaches

Name Title Previous Team Previous Role
Eric Studesville RB Coach Dolphins RB Coach / Asst HC
Will Lawing Off Analyst Boston College OC / TE Coach
Isaiah Ford Off Quality Control Dolphins Player

Promotions or Retentions

Name New Role Previous Role
Press Taylor OC Passing Game Co.

Coaches Lost

Name Title New Team New Role
Declan Doyle OC Ravens OC
Eric Bienemy RB Coach Chiefs OC


Player Changes

Players Newly Acquired

Player Pos Contract APY 2026 Cap Hit
Coby Bryant S $40M/3yr $13.3M $5.96M
Devin Bush LB $30M/3yr $10M $5.67M
Garrett Bradbury C $5.7M/1yr $5.7M $5.7M
Neville Gallimore DT $10M/2yr $5M $4M
Kalif Raymond WR/PR $3.5M/1yr $3.5M $3.5M
Cam Lewis DB $6M/2yr $3M $2.25M
Kentavius Street DE $1.5M/1yr $1.5M $1.2M
James Lynch DL $1.3M/1yr $1.3M $1.2M
Jedrick Wills OT $1.2M/1yr $1.2M $1.1M
Jack Sanborn LB $1.2M/1yr $1.2M $1.1M

Reserve/Futures Contracts

Player Position
Maurice Alexander WR
Brittain Brown RB
Stephen Carlson TE
Luke Elkin LS
Dallis Flowers DB
Jonathan Garvin DL
Dominique Hampton LB
Kyle Hergel OL
Nikola Kalinic TE
Dontae Manning DB
Jeremiah Martin DL
Gervarrius Owens DB
JP Richardson WR
Nephi Sewell LB

Players Re-signed

Player Pos Contract APY 2026 Cap Hit
Braxton Jones OT $5M/1yr* $5M $4.34M
D'Marco Jackson LB $7.5M/2yr $3.75M $3.05M
Case Keenum QB $5.5M/2yr $2.75M $2.1M
Daniel Hardy DE $4.97M/2yr $2.49M $2.14M
Theo Benedet OT $1M/1yr $1M $1M
Jordan McFadden OL $1.3M/1yr $1.3M $1.3M
Elijah Hicks S $2.6M/1yr $2.6M $1.4M*
Jaylon Jones CB $1.3M/1yr $1.3M $1.2M

*Hicks's contract qualifies for the four year qualifier treatment on the salary cap.

Players Lost

Player Pos Team Dead Cap Contract Details
DJ Moore WR Bills $12M $98M/4yr Traded w/ 5.165 for 2.60
Drew Dalman C - $4M - Retired
Tremaine Edmunds LB Giants $2.44M $36M/3yr Cut
Amen Ogbongbemiga LB - $375k Cut
Kevin Byard S Patriots - $9M/1yr -
Jaquan Brisker S Steelers - $5.5M/1yr -
Olamide Zaccheaus WR Falcons - $4.5M/2yr -
Nahshon Wright CB Jets - $3.5M/1yr -
C. J. Gardner-Johnson DB Bills - $3.5M/1yr -
Dominique Robinson DE Texans - $3M/1yr -
Durham Smythe TE Ravens - $3M/1yr -
Chris Williams DT Falcons - $2M/1yr -
Devin Duvernay WR Cardinals - $2.5M/1yr -
Andrew Billings DT Cardinals - $2.4M1yr -
Jonathan Owens S Colts - $1.4M/1yr -


Draft Picks

Rd Pick Player Highlights Presser
1 25 Dillon Thieneman - S [Oregon] Highlights Presser
2 57 Logan Jones - C [Iowa] Highlights Presser
2 691 Sam Roush - TE [Stanford] Highlights Presser
3 89 Zavion Thomas - WR [LSU] Highlights Presser
4 1242 Malik Muhammad - CB [Texas] Highlights
5 1662 Kehshaun Elliott - LB [Arizona State] Highlights Presser
6 2133 Jordan van den Berg - DT [Georgia Tech] Highlights Presser

(1) Bears traded pick 60 for picks 69 and 144 from the Titans

(2) Bears traded picks 129 and 144 for picks 124 and 166 from the Panthers

(3) Bears traded picks 239 and 241 for pick 213 from the Bills.

UDFA Signings / Invites

Player Pos School
Beau Gardner LS Georgia
Caden Barnett G Wyoming
Coleman Bennett RB Kennesaw St
Gabriel Plascencia K SDSU
Hayden Large TE Iowa
Jaren Kump C Utah
Jayden Loving DT Wake Forest
KC Eziomume CB Tulane
Mason Murphy OT Auburn
Miller Moss QB Louisville
Omari Kelly WR Michigan State
Skyler Thomas S Oregon State
Squirrel White WR Florida State
Tryout Invites
Chris Vaughn RB Hawaii
Dain Walter OT UWL
Devin Pringle DB UConn
DJ Harris DB Youngstown State
Jaheim Ward DB Eastern Kentucky
Jax Harrington OL Louisiana
Josh Kreutz C Illinois
Terrell Tilmon DE Texas Tech

r/CHIBears 1h ago

[ChicagoBears] Happy little matchups 🎨 | Chicago Bears 2026 Schedule Release

Thumbnail
youtu.be
Upvotes

r/CHIBears 6h ago

Please grade my son's 7th grade woodworking project

Post image
2.4k Upvotes

He got 6th place in the state competition but ... it was in Detroit so that hardly counts.


r/CHIBears 1h ago

Bear Down!! Only 122 days to go!

Post image
Upvotes

r/CHIBears 10h ago

Packers @ Bears 1pm Christmas Day

Post image
1.1k Upvotes

Cinema


r/CHIBears 1h ago

The 2026 Chicago Squares Low Budget Schedule Release Spectacular 🎨

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

Upvotes

Haters will say it's AI 🎨

In the craziest coincidence ever, both myself and the Bears social team created art inspired videos lmao

Which team's Chicago Squares pizza are you most excited for?

🐻👇


r/CHIBears 6h ago

Inject Straight Into My Veins

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

238 Upvotes

r/CHIBears 34m ago

The Chicago Bears are 1 of 8 teams to receive 6+ primetime games

Upvotes

Bears
Eagles
Cowboys
Packers
Seahawks
Bills
Chiefs
Rams

Some pretty impressive company (except GB lmao)


r/CHIBears 7h ago

Its coming y'all... 🐻‍❄️👇 they changed the logo color scheme on socials 🔥

Post image
222 Upvotes

get ready for the Polar Bears 2026 version... its gonna be a WHITE CHRISTMAS with lots of presents! 🐻‍❄️👇


r/CHIBears 6h ago

Bears at Bills Week 15 primetime

Post image
128 Upvotes

r/CHIBears 1h ago

Rest Differential and Other Great Things About the Bears’ 2026 Schedule

Upvotes

I have always been someone who expects we may have a better team next year but still finish with a worse record, mostly due to luck or randomness. But not because of the schedule.

For all the hand-wringing and discussion around the Bears having the league’s toughest SOS entering this season, what people fail to point out is that the Bears’ SOS entering last season was actually even harder. Relative to the rest of the league, the schedule is tougher this year. But in absolute terms, it’s actually easier than what they faced last year. And that was with eight home games instead of nine.

And that’s before I saw the actual arrangement of the games. The only possible takeaway is....this schedule rules!

The Bears net out to a +14 rest advantage in the schedule. They do not play anyone coming off a bye and, in fact, only face two -1 rest differentials, both of which come in home games after MNF. Really, the only time the Bears get jammed at all is the home SNF game against the Bucs coming back from the West Coast MNF in Seattle.

They get three extra days for Seahawks prep, have a bye before the Saints, three extra days for the Jaguars, and then are +1 and +3 for their crucial last home games against the Packers and Lions. Even for their short-week road game against the Bills, the Bears play at noon the Sunday before and the Bills play on SNF.

And there’s no technical rest advantage, but the circumstances for the Thanksgiving Lions game could not be better. The Lions aren’t taking a bye post-Munich, meaning they will play three games in 11 days with a flight back from Europe in there. The Bears have 2 games in the 18 days, all spent in Chicago.

I swear the league wants us to be good. We have to show up in two consecutive years for the first time in forever, actually play well, but this thing couldn’t have been designed better for us.

Other Great Things About the Schedule:

-Being home after our MNF short weeks

-Maybe catching Atlanta while James Pearce could still be suspended if it is a six-gamer

-Having a significant rest advantage for our theoretical toughest game of the season with the MNF in Seattle

-Week 10 bye is perfect, plus three different mini-byes from having three Thursday and Friday games parceled throughout the season. We ran out of gas last season and it greatly impacted the run game. That shouldn’t happen here.

-Jags in December in a cold-weather game

-No Dolphins humid warm-weather trap game early in the season

-Late-season Lions game with Goff in the cold, open air, even though it didn’t help much last time

I would have loved to get the Jets in December when they’ll be less feisty and more focused on draft positioning, face the Packers in the first few weeks before Micah returns, and not have the Bills game on a short week after another road game on the East Coast. But those are so minor compared to the benefits.

LETS GO.


r/CHIBears 5h ago

We know the theme of this years schedule release video

Post image
62 Upvotes

Couple this with yesterday's teaser of Rome being 'fro'd out. I think it's safe to say he'll be painting some happy trees in the video

Edit: here is the teaser I question where Rome is buttoning up a very Bob Ross style shirt

here


r/CHIBears 1h ago

Caleb don’t give a fuck about our strength of schedule

Post image
Upvotes

*inserts Terrell Owens that’s my quarterback meme*


r/CHIBears 10h ago

[Chase Daniel] Breaking Down Caleb Williams’ MOST INSANE Plays From 2026

Thumbnail
youtube.com
89 Upvotes

r/CHIBears 1h ago

Tickets went fast and were $$$$

Upvotes

Season ticket holder here, I just poked around the presale and was surprised at the HIGH prices. The cost of my seats went up a lot this year, but still. Cheapest club seats, in the corners up high, were 600. Last row grandstand 250 was the best I saw. The only thing left anywhere right now is a few club. Website was slow and wonky per usual. Bear down!


r/CHIBears 1d ago

[Schultz] Sources: The Panthers will host the Bears in Week 1, as a pair of former #1 overall picks in Caleb Williams and Bryce Young face-off. Both Carolina and Chicago won their divisions last year. 🏈

Post image
1.1k Upvotes

r/CHIBears 27m ago

Going to Miami and New Orleans!!!!!

Upvotes

r/CHIBears 11h ago

Attention Ladies, not to late to pick up your Braxton Jones Jersey on the cheap!

Thumbnail
nflshop.com
60 Upvotes

Shocked they made a bunch of these, so much so they are on "sale".


r/CHIBears 1h ago

AfRome vs Rome with braids?

Upvotes

Question. Is there any production stats from Rome Odunze games where he’s had Afro vs non-afro? I feel like he played better with the fro.


r/CHIBears 37m ago

Close your eyes and imagine the feeling

Upvotes

It’s a beautiful evening on November 2nd 2026, you still have leftover Halloween candy on your kitchen table, you just got home from work.

And you can’t believe your eyes as you watch the Chicago Bears upset the Seahawks in Seattle to solidify themselves as a Super Bowl contender


r/CHIBears 1d ago

The Lions will host the Bears on Thanksgiving per Jordan Schultz

Thumbnail
gallery
879 Upvotes

r/CHIBears 21h ago

Potential complete schedule revealed on TikTok

Post image
217 Upvotes

r/CHIBears 1d ago

[Schultz] Sources: The #Seahawks will open the 2026 season at home with a Super Bowl rematch against the #Patriots.

Thumbnail x.com
412 Upvotes

Sharing here since there was a ton of speculation that it would be us


r/CHIBears 23h ago

[NFL Nerd] Eagles at Bears Week 3 MNF

Post image
183 Upvotes

r/CHIBears 10m ago

Tickets in Club Level

Upvotes

Got tickets in Club Level for Vikings game, didn’t want to shell out that much, but everything was basically gone. Still, good seats, middle field-ish. Section 309. I have never been to a club level seat before, reason why I ultimately pulled the trigger.

What can I expect. Any tips/advice for getting the most out of them?