It’s been a weird week. The Super Bowl is set. The Senior Bowl is this weekend. And yet, I still haven’t really entered “offseason” mode as a writer who covers the Chicago Bears.
Chicago playing meaningful football into mid-January has thrown off my internal clock. Heck, I didn’t even realize the Senior Bowl was this week until Luis Medina brought it up in our weekly meeting on Tuesday.
That said, I’ve got to start fleshing out my Bears thoughts. I’m going to dump some here today, and hope that helps me recalibrate my internal clock. Let’s start with DJ Moore, who, like me, isn’t used to being a part of meaningful football this late into January.
I don’t see a DJ Moore trade making much sense for the Bears …
I’m sorry to those in that camp, butI just don’t see the benefit. Sure, a trade (before June 1) would clear $16.5 million in available cap space this offseason. So could converting bonuses and adding a void year, though.
The popular idea I’ve seen making the rounds on social media has been packaging Moore in a trade with the Raiders that would send Maxx Crosby to Chicago. That trade would have to include at least one first-round pick, and then some. Chicago’s 2026 first-round selection checks in at No. 25, which comes closer to a second-round pick than a true first, meaning it likely takes more than one first-round pick — even with Moore in the package.
ANTWAAN RANDLE EL COMES TO DJ MOORE’S DEFENSE
I’m not going to pretend to know what the Raiders’ front office thinks of Moore, but I believe his value in a trade is the equivalent of a third-round selection at this point. If you remove Moore’s name from the equation and ask yourself if the No. 25 and a third-rounder gets the job done in a Maxx Crosby trade, the answer is almost certainly no.
On the flip side, if you keep Moore and work some cap magic (as discussed here), you can clear as much as $18.5 million in 2026 cap space. That would immediately put the Bears back into the green in one transaction. Doing that would mean Chicago would return all of its starters and core offensive players in 2026, save for Ozzy Trapilo, who has a long road back ahead of him.
To me, there’s a significant value in that.
Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn ImagesNo, Moore isn’t Chicago’s top pass-catching option anymore. That crown likely belongs to Colston Loveland. Moore probably isn’t even the second or third option in Ben Johnson’s offense in 2026. But he’s a darn good fourth option when everyone is healthy, and he’s surely a better option than Olamide Zaccheaus or the like when one of the pass-catching options ahead of him goes down.
Loveland, Rome Odunze, and Luther Burden III all missed time with injuries in 2025. I’m not saying they’re injury-prone or predisposed to injuries, but this is the NFL, and injuries happen.
There’s work to be done on the defensive side of the ball this offseason, at multiple spots, much like the undertaking that was rebuilding the offensive line last offseason, where Ryan Poles added four new starters through trades, free agency, and the draft. Subtracting a talented player like Moore from the offense to fill one of those gaps doesn’t feel like the most prudent path to retooling the defense.
Make the money work with the conversions this year, kick the can down the road on Moore’s future to next year, and benefit from having depth in the wide receiver room in 2026.
Where do the Bears start in their defensive retool?
I’ve seen a bunch of fuss about mock draft picks this week. NFL Media’s Daniel Jeremiah’s most recent mock draft has Chicago taking Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman at No. 25. He caught a good amount of grief for that idea — sometimes we forget, these are just ideas — on social media. At the end of the day, nothing we see in a mock draft matters until we get into free agency. Needs are only needs until that period begins and Chicago begins addressing them.
Perhaps Chicago likes Trey Hendrickson on a multi-year deal opposite Montez Sweat. Hendrickson has played for Dennis Allen in New Orleans, and I believe Allen will have some influence on the type of players he wants in his system. (Luis: For what it’s worth, the Bears were listed as a rumored suitor last offseason). If that’s the case, there’s little chance Chicago uses their first-rounder on an edge rusher in April.
© Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn ImagesInterior defensive line becomes an option in that spot. Left tackle could be an option there if the right guy is available and Chicago doesn’t have much confidence in Trapilo returning to his previous form after his recovery from a ruptured patellar tendon. Beyond that, safety is a real consideration. I don’t think Jaquan Brisker will be back, and Kevin Byard III was tremendous in his stint in Chicago, but he is in the twilight of his career.
My point is, until we see what the Bears do in free agency, there’s not much to bellyache about in the mock draft scene. The answer to where the defensive retool begins is at Halas Hall, when Chicago decides on the future of their expiring defensive contracts and potential cap casualties. Until we have those answers, we don’t even know where all the holes that need to be filled will be.
My advice: Watch the Senior Bowl this weekend, read up on some players available in the various transactional phases this spring, and don’t invest too much emotion into any of it one way or another until we have a clearer picture of what the needs are for Chicago.
Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn ImagesI think Cairo Santos and D’Andre swift played into keeping their jobs in Chicago next season…
If you asked me in the fall who wouldn’t have a job in Chicago beyond 2025, I would have quickly named Cairo Santos and D’Andre Swift.
Swift’s first season in Chicago was a massive disappointment, and his first month in 2025 was much of the same. Santos’s lack of long-distance leg had been a source of ire for some time, and that too was much the same in the early parts of the season.
Swift ran for 187 yards on 56 carries in the first four games of the season (3.3 yards per carry) and two touchdowns. Santos missed his first field goal from more than 50 in Week 1 against Minnesota, re-igniting the sleeping giant that was his long-distance struggles.
Swift emerged from the bye week the best version we’ve ever seen of him and finished the season with a career-best 1,087 rushing yards, 4.9 yards per carry, and nine rushing touchdowns. Santos flushed four of his final five 50-plus yarders the rest of the way, and was nails kicking in Soldier Field down the stretch when the conditions were the worst.
I think both played well enough to keep their jobs next season.
Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn ImagesFor Swift, he’s the 16th highest-paid running back in the league, and I find it hard to believe Chicago can find someone of equal value this spring at the same price point, and I don’t feel comfortable betting on Kyle Monangai being the lone three-down back—just yet, anyway. Even if Monangai could be that guy, Johnson has always been a two-back kind of guy. I don’t see that changing. Plan on Swift and Monangai being the 1-2 punch in the backfield again next season.
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For Santos, there’s a lot of value in being able to kick in the Chicago elements, for however long that lasts, and not a ton of cap relief from moving on. His 50-plus field goal rate was better in 2025, but that’s because Johnson only allowed him to kick from that distance six times during the regular season. If Santos is back (and I believe he will be) that will be a limitation again. But Johnson’s not afraid to let his offense do the talking from that distance, and neither should we.
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