The Chicago Bears may have a premium option in mind for replacing Pro Bowl center Drew Dalman following his sudden and unexpected NFL retirement.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Dalman — who made the Pro Bowl in his first season with the Bears in 2025 — has informed the team that he is retiring from the league at age 27. He signed a three-year, $42 million deal with the Bears last March.
Dalman was a critical part of the Bears’ offensive line rebuild during the 2025 offseason and earned every penny of his contract with his performance, allowing just one sack on 1,154 snaps and finishing with the eighth-best pass-block win rate (96%) in the league. His retirement creates another significant personnel hole for the Bears’ 2026 roster.
Encouragingly, though, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer has reported that the Bears have “sniffed around” on the market of a high-level replacement: Baltimore Ravens three-time Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum, who will hit free agency next week.
“The Bears have sniffed around Tyler Linderbaum and now that makes sense,” Breer wrote on X following the news about Dalman’s sudden retirement.
Tyler Linderbaum Would Solve Bears’ Center Worries
The unexpected loss of Dalman — even though it appears the Bears have known it was a possibility for some time — creates a significant amount of concern for the integrity of the Bears’ much-improved offensive interior in 2026, but most of those worries would fade away if they managed to sign Linderbaum to a long-term deal in free agency.
Linderbaum put up similar numbers to Dalman last season for the Ravens, giving up one more sack and two more pressures (26) on roughly 100 fewer snaps played. He also produced a better pass-block win rate (97%), rating third-best in the league; although, ESPN tallied Dalman with 406 pass-block wins and Linderbaum with 308 wins.
While Dalman holds the edge as a pass protector, Linderbaum is more dynamic as a run-blocker and, at only 25 years old, is a rare talent to hit unrestricted free agency.
Linderbaum would not come cheap for the Bears. According to Spotrac’s projections, he could sign between $17 million and $18 million annually, which would be notably more than the $14 million-per-season that the Bears had agreed to pay Dalman last March.
Even with their cap restrictions, though, the Bears could make it happen now, especially since Dalman’s retirement will free up $10 million in cap space for the 2026 season.
Bears Enter Free Agency Needing 2 New OL Starters
The Bears will now head into the start of the new league year on March 11 needing two new offensive line starters for the 2026 season, including at the left tackle position.
The team has already said it expects that left tackle Ozzy Trapilo, a 2025 second-round pick, will miss most of the 2026 season as he recovers from a ruptured patellar tendon, which he sustained in the Bears’ wild-card playoff win over the Green Bay Packers.
While the Bears could always pursue a short-term option to bridge the gap until Trapilo — who played well as a rookie — returns to reclaim his spot, it would make sense if the front office also kicked the tires on long-term replacements, given that Trapilo’s sample size is limited and it is unclear how effectively he will bounce back from his injury.
The Bears can begin negotiating unrestricted free agents, including Linderbaum, when the legal tampering period begins at 12 p.m. ET on Monday, March 9.
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