Welp, back to the drawing board…
Drew Dalman sent shockwaves across the NFL landscape with his sudden retirement on Tuesday. Only 27 years old and coming off a Pro Bowl season, his decision to walk away particularly has a major impact on the Chicago Bears’ offseason strategy.
Not all hope is lost for Chicago, even though losing their star center throws an unexpected wrench into the situation. They have plenty of cap space flexibility and opportunities in the draft to improve their roster, filling needs on defense while still finding a worthy replacement for Dalman along the offensive line.
To provide insight on what’s possible for the Bears this offseason in the wake of this news, I’ve put together my latest mock offseason, involving free agent signings, trades, a seven-round mock draft, contract restructures, and extensions. Without further ado, let’s begin.
Starting cap space after Dalman’s retirement: $2,536,445
* RG Jonah Jackson ($6.8 million)
* CB Jaylon Johnson ($6.9 million)
* TE Cole Kmet ($4.395 million)
When you’re restructuring contracts in the NFL, you want to be confident those players will be on your team in 2027. Restructuring deals like Dayo Odeyingbo and Grady Jarrett would free up plenty of space for the Bears this offseason, but you’d still be on the hook for heavy salaries for those two players in 2027 without the flexibility to move off of them.
Thuney, Jackson, Johnson, and Kmet stand out as the most likely candidates to be restructured, since I feel more confident that they’ll be on the team in 2027. The only reason Thuney wouldn’t be would be if he retires, at which point the salary aspect of the conversation becomes moot. I considered Montez Sweat here, but with $21 million being freed up by releasing him next offseason, I wanted to keep that option open in case he doesn’t live up to expectations this coming year.
For those worried about future cap space, don’t be. The Bears have more flexibility in that regard than you realize. With these restructures, they would still have over $91 million in cap space in 2027. That’s more than enough to extend Darnell Wright and be extremely active in the 2027 free agency period. They could bump that number up to roughly $119.5 million in cap space if they release Odeyingbo and Jarrett next offseason, too.
* WR DJ Moore to Titans for No. 101 overall ($16.5 million saved)
* LB Tremaine Edmunds to Giants for 2027 fourth-round pick ($15 million saved)
These trades are difficult ones to make, given that you’re sending off two solid starters. However, the price the Bears are paying for both Moore and Edmunds aren’t reflective of the production they got out of them in 2025, and with the cap space in a less-flexible situation than past years, moves will need to be made.
Trading Moore would free up more touches for younger, ascending talents like Luther Burden III, Colston Loveland, and Rome Odunze. Coming off the worst year of his career, Moore wouldn’t net Chicago a massive haul in a trade. However, acquiring him at a $16.5 million price would be much more enticing to NFL teams than the $28.5 million cap hit he has for the Bears this year. The Titans would be smart to investment in a veteran receiver for Cam Ward to throw to, given the desperate state of their offense.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler floated around the Giants as a team interested in trading for Edmunds. The Bears eat up a much lighter percentage of dead cap from Edmunds’ contract than they would in a Moore trade, making the return a little bit lighter in this specific trade. Rather than settle for a fifth-round pick in 2026, I like the idea of Chicago acquiring future draft capital at a discounted price.
The Bears won’t be cutting these players prior to training camp, but this will be factored in our eventual year-end cap situation. Releasing players I don’t have on my final projected 53-man roster frees up some additional cap space and provides some more spending room.
Per OverTheCap, these are the players who meet the top 51 cutoff whom I would either have on the practice squad or subject to free agency:
* RT Darnell Wright: Three years, $67.5 million ($22.5 million a year)
This extensions ensure that one of the biggest bright spots of the Bears’ offense would be locked down in the long haul. Wright would be the fourth-highest paid right tackle in the NFL at this salary, which is about fair value for where he stands around the league currently.
* FS Kevin Byard: Two years, $24 million ($12M AAV, $6.5M cap hit in 2026)
* LT Braxton Jones: One year, $3.5 million
* LB D’Marco Jackson: One year, $2.5 million
* SS/CB C.J. Gardner Johnson: One year, $2.5 million
* QB Case Keenum: One year, $2 million
* WR Olamide Zaccheaus: One year, $1.2 million
* LS Scott Daly: One year, $1.2 million
* TE Durham Smythe: One year, $1.2 million
* LG Jordan McFadden: One year, $1.2 million (RFA)
None of these extensions really stand out as wild, since a majority of them serve as depth retention.
I anticipate Kevin Byard will have a competitive market among teams looking to win now, which is why I have his annual salary average a little higher than where most outlets project him at. If he takes less than $12 million a year, that’s even better for the Bears. Besides, if there’s someone you’re willing to pay a little extra to in the short term, it’s someone coming off an All-Pro season in which he led the NFL in interceptions.
D’Marco Jackson and Braxton Jones would compete for a starting position on the roster, or at least the latter would until Ozzy Trapilo comes back. I still see a lot of value in having a healthy Jones on the roster, given his starting experience, length, athleticism, and knowledge of the playbook. If he wants to come back to Chicago, it’s worth bringing him back as a stopgap for 2026. Jackson impressed in the starting time he got this past year, and he brings deep experience working under Dennis Allen, so he’s someone I find to be an ideal LB3 (third linebacker, not to be confused with Luther Burden III).
* C Tyler Linderbaum: Three year, $63 million ($21M AAV, $12M cap hit in 2026)
* EDGE Khalil Mack: One year, $12 million
* SS Kamren Curl: Two years, $17.5 million ($8.75M AAV, $5M cap hit in 2026)
* DT Levi Onwuzurike: One year, $2 million
* WR Tutu Atwell: One year, $2 million
Right after the news broke of Dalman’s retirement, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported that the Bears have “sniffed around” Tyler Linderbaum, the consensus top offensive lineman available on the open market. He won’t come cheap, and there will surely be several teams vying for his services. That said, Chicago is the closest NFL city to Linderbaum’s hometown of Solon, Iowa, he’s a perfect scheme fit in Ben Johnson’s zone-heavy run scheme, and he’d get the chance to start for a playoff team with two talented guards playing next to him.
A Khalil Mack reunion in Chicago would be a beautiful thing from a nostalgia perspective, but he’d be much more than a familiar face for Bears fans. He’s still an effective edge rusher with tremendous play strength and a deep arsenal of moves he can use to pressure the quarterback and stop the run. Dennis Allen was also Mack’s head coach in his rookie year with the Raiders in 2014.
I consider Kamren Curl to be an upgrade over Jaquan Brisker in the Bears’ secondary. Curl has missed only eight games in his six seasons in the NFL and will be only 27 years old at the end of March. Curl allowed a passer rating of just 83.8 for the Rams in 2025, which ranks third among the 17 top safeties slated to hit free agency this offseason. He’s also a physical, reliable tackler with a sub-10% missed tackle rate this past season.
