The Chicago Bears will almost certainly need to explore new safety options in 2026 with five of last year’s safeties — including both of their starters — set to become free agents in March. Could an All-Pro trade enter the equation?
The Bears have roughly five more weeks to negotiate new contracts with pending free agents before the start of the new league year at 4 p.m. ET on March 11, preceded by a 48-hour legal tampering period that represents the true start of free-agent negotiations.
At this stage, expectations are that they will attempt to re-sign at least one of their two starting safeties — Pro Bowl veteran Kevin Byard III or Jaquan Brisker — but the Bears must also clear significant amounts of cap space to give themselves spending flexibility.
After the latest projections, the Bears figure to still be about $5.3 million over the cap, which may prevent them from paying top-of-market rates to either one of their safeties as they balance their other roster needs and work to re-sign their other free agents.
If neither works out for the Bears, though, Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine believes that they could emerge as trade partners for Arizona Cardinals All-Pro Budda Baker.
“Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker are both slated to become free agents,” Balletine wrote. “If the Bears can’t retain both, then safety could become a priority. Budda Baker has been in and out of the trade rumor mill over the last few seasons. He could be available if he’s not wanting to go through another coaching change in Arizona.”
How Much Would Trade for Budda Baker Cost Bears?
If the Bears managed to land Baker in a trade with the Cardinals, they would be getting a significant upgrade at strong safety over Brisker — and that’s no disrespect to Brisker.
Baker has established himself as one of the NFL’s elite safeties since entering the league as a second-round pick in 2017, having made the Pro Bowl in eight of his nine seasons and showing a knack for making physical plays against the run. In 2025, he also logged more than 100 tackles for the sixth time, adding five pass breakups and an interception.
No doubt, Dennis Allen would have daydreams thinking up all the different ways that he could make use of a versatile attacker such as Baker in Year 2 of his Bears defense.
Can the Bears afford to trade for Baker and the rest of his $54 million contract, though?
According to Spotrac, Baker has two years and roughly $34 million left on his deal with about $7.7 million guaranteed for the 2026 season. If the Bears acquired him in a trade, he would cost about $16.1 million against the cap in 2026 and $17.8 million in 2027, which is far more than Brisker would cost if they re-sign him to a long-term contract.
The Bears would also likely need to start trade talks with a Day 2 offer. The Cardinals are expected to retool under new head coach Mike LaFleur, but they will need more incentive than mild cap savings to deal away one of their most accomplished veterans.
Maybe the Bears would file a Baker trade under their break-glass-in-case-of-emergency options, but it seems unlikely that they would swing so big amid their cap restrictions.
Bears Unlikely to Re-Sign Both Safeties for 2026 Season
Speaking of cap restrictions, the Bears have the ability to clear the necessary cap space to re-sign both Byard and Brisker in free agency if they want both starters back in 2026, but expectations are that they will allow at least one to walk when free agency starts.
Bears general manager Ryan Poles said last month that Byard is a player that his front office wants to re-sign for 2026 after he recorded a league-leading seven interceptions and earned the third Pro Bowl selection of his NFL career. That said, both he and Byard have also indicated there is a chance the two sides won’t be able to reach an agreement.
If Byard’s price climbs too high or he prefers to start fresh elsewhere, the Bears might then pivot to bringing back Brisker; though, his extension case is harder to make.
Brisker got himself clear of his concussion issues in 2025, but he didn’t have the impact that many expected that he would in the first year of Allen’s aggressive-style defense. He did play one of the best games of his career in the divisional round against the Los Angeles Rams, tallying 14 tackles with one for a loss and two pass breakups, but it also underlined the question: “Why does Brisker not make a similar impact more often?”
Whichever way the Bears end up leaning, it seems more likely that they will bring back neither one of their safeties for 2026 than re-upping with both of them on new deals.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Bears Linked as Potential Trade Partners for $54 Million All-Pro appeared first on Heavy Sports.