The regular season is right around the corner, and the Chicago Bears roster is all but set for their opener against the Carolina Panthers on September 13. It’ll be nice to focus on actual football, with most of the roster conversation and discourse behind us. I say most, because there’s still some external chatter about the Bears’ defensive line, something that’s carried the bulk of the roster conversations since their 2025 season ended with an overtime loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round of the NFC Playoffs.
The latest fuel to the fire comes from ESPN’s NFL insider Dan Graziano, who wrote about Chicago’s need for help on the defensive line in his column on Wednesday, where he shared predictions for all 32 teams heading into the regular season. Here is what Graziano had to say under a subhead title “Don’t be surprised if … the Bears still trade for an edge rusher” in his column:
What I’m hearing: Chicago is thin on defense, especially on the back end. But it’s up front where the team is still looking for a strong edge presence opposite Montez Sweat. The Bears added veteran Marcus Davenport a couple of weeks ago, but that move doesn’t appear to be working out; they let Davenport go in their initial cutdown to 53 players over the weekend before bringing him back to the practice squad.
Bears GM Ryan Poles has been an active and aggressive trader in his time with the team, and he’ll turn over every rock he can looking for an impact player up front. The Bears’ health issues on defense might be more concentrated on the back end, but improving the pass rush would help the secondary, too.
Sure, all of what Graziano said is true. But the central point feels out of touch. Out of town, out of touch.
Yes, Marcus Davenport is on the Bears practice squad. But that seems to be by design. I don’t see him as anything more than depth, and that’s why the “doesn’t appear to be working out” line feels out of town, out of touch. I believe it’s working out exactly as those inside Halas Hall intended.
In the end, I’m not sure whether Graziano is reporting that Chicago is active in the trade market or just open to the idea at some point. The wording and framing isn’t clear in that regard. In any case, this might be something to monitor if the defensive line continues to be viewed as a need.
From left to right: Bears DC Dennis Allen, GM Ryan Poles, and Head Coach Ben Johnson. Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn ImagesBears D-Line Receives Another Vote of Confidence Despite External Speculation
I do think, and I’ve said this many times before, that the defensive line is a question mark, and you can’t rule out an addition to that group at some point this season. But the Bears have remained firm in their assertion that the defensive line will be better than it was last season, and that they’re confident in that group.
In fact, Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen doubled down on that sentiment on Wednesday afternoon:
Dennis Allen is CONFIDENT in the Bears’ d-line? pic.twitter.com/aaTkGnTJL5
— CHGO Bears (@CHGO_Bears) September 2, 2026More from the Bears’ DC:
“I feel really confident with who we have on the defensive line,” Allen said (via CHGO on X). “I think the style that we want to play, we’ve got guys that can do the things that we want to do. I felt all along that was probably our deepest position group; I felt like we had a lot of guys who are NFL-caliber football players. We feel good about where we’re at.”
Even with Allen giving the defensive line another public vote of confidence today, the group remains a question mark. That’s why Graziano’s reporting (speculation?) still feels a little out of touch with what’s going on at Halas Hall.
Even if Chicago eventually adds to that group, I imagine it would come closer to the trade deadline, after they’ve had time to see how their bet on internal options and veteran additions pans out.
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