The Chicago Bears have made some monster moves since the free agency negotiating period began, and their chief opponents are taking notice.
Detroit Lions star wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown sounded off on Tuesday, March 11, as Bears new head coach Ben Johnson (St. Brown’s offensive coordinator for the past three years) and general manager Ryan Poles continued stacking the Chicago roster with talent.
“I feel like the Bears have unlimited [expletive] money,” St. Brown said. “This [expletive] is crazy. They’re just signing new [expletive] for like $40 million.”
Bears Have Been Active in Free Agency, Trade Market in Recent Days
GettyOffensive guard Joe Thuney, formerly of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Thus far, the Bears have traded a fourth-round pick for former Kansas City Chiefs offensive guard Joe Thuney and a sixth-round pick to the Los Angeles Rams for offensive guard Jonah Jackson. The team then signed former Atlanta Falcons center Drew Dalman to a three-year contract worth $42 million.
The three moves shore up what was a porous interior of the O-line last season, which was largely responsible for the Bears surrendering a league-leading 68 sacks of rookie QB Caleb Williams.
Chicago also inked former Indianapolis Colts edge rusher Dayo Odeyingbo to a three-year contract worth $48 million, filling a pressing need opposite Montez Sweat on the defensive line. The Bears decided to add to the interior defensive line as well, inking former Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett to a three-year, $43.5 million deal.
“Odeyingbo is young (will be 26 this season) and fits the prototype for defensive ends in Dennis Allen’s scheme (6-foot-5, 280 pounds with 35-plus inch arms),” ESPN’s Courtney Cronin wrote Monday. “Jarrett can still threaten quarterbacks as a declining starting three-technique defensive tackle, but may fit best as a part-time starter or rotational player.”
Despite all the moves the Bears have made and all the money they’ve taken on over the past several days, the team still has nearly $38 million in salary cap space for 2025, per Spotrac.
Bears Likely to Look to Offensive Line in First Round of NFL Draft
GettyHead coach Ben Johnson of the Chicago Bears.
Chicago’s fortification of the offensive and defensive lines will allow the franchise some flexibility when it comes to spending the rest of its cap space, as well as how it approaches next month’s NFL draft.
The Bears own the Nos. 10, 39, 41 and 72 picks in the first three rounds. Left tackle is now the only position of question on the offensive line and despite all the team has already invested in the unit, most mocks drafts predict Chicago will pursue an answer there in the first round.
Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN in his most recent mock projected the Bears to select offensive tackle Josh Simmons of Ohio State.
“If the Bears expect quarterback Caleb Williams to take a big step forward in 2025, they have buy him time in the pocket to actually make plays,” Kiper wrote. “Darnell Wright has the right tackle position locked down, but Chicago could replace Braxton Jones (recovering from an ankle injury) on the left side with Simmons. Of course, Simmons is coming back from his own injury (knee), but he should be good to go for camp and has great traits. I love his consistency and balance in pass protection.”
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