WCG’s lead draft analyst shares his latest Bears mock offseason after they hired Ben Johnson as head coach.
The Bears enter the 2025 NFL offseason with a new head coach and a newfound sense of optimism.
Of course, Chicago fans are used to getting excited during the offseason, only for the regular season to not live up to their dreams of grandeur. But with the hire of Ben Johnson as the team’s head coach, there seems to be much more to be hopeful for than there was just a few months ago.
After hiring one of the most highly-touted head coaching candidates of the last few years, the Bears find themselves with someone on staff who is proven as one of the best offensive play-callers in the NFL. They have a significant amount of cap space to work with, as well as three picks in the top 45 selections of the 2025 NFL Draft.
You know how this all works by now. This is my latest 2025 Bears mock offseason, complete with free agent signings, draft picks, extensions, and a 53-man roster.
Initial cap space: $63,133,403
Roster cuts
- TE Gerald Everett ($5.48 million saved, $1 million in dead cap)
- OG Ryan Bates ($4 million saved, no dead cap)
These two cuts end up freeing nearly $10 million in cap space letting two players go who made little impact in 2024.
Everett has long flirted with the 400-yard mark for most of his career, but his impact on the Bears’ passing game was almost nonexistent in 2024. He caught just 8 passes for 36 yards all season, a yardage mark he topped six times in individual games with the Chargers in 2023. The Bears traded a fifth-round pick for Bates, but he played in just three games due to injury. He didn’t necessarily thrive in those games, either.
Updated cap space: $72,593,403
Re-signings
- LB Jack Sanborn — ROFR RFA tender: One year, $3.185 million
- LS Scott Daly: One year, $1.2 million
- CB Josh Blackwell: One year, $1.5 million
- CB Jaylon Jones: One year, $1.2 million
- DE Daniel Hardy — ERFA tender: One year, $1.03 million
- OL Matt Pryor: One year, $2 million
- DT Chris Williams: One year, $1.3 million
- LB Amen Ogbonebemiga: One year, $1.2 million
- WR DeAndre Carter: One year, $1.1 million
None of these extensions will cost a considerable amount of money, with Sanborn’s deal being the only one that costs more than $2 million. These are all depth additions and players who would contribute heavily on special teams.
This is more notable for the players the Bears don’t extend, most notably Teven Jenkins and Keenan Allen. Jenkins is a very good starting guard, but his injury history makes it difficult to tie up significant long-term capital into his contract. Given the ups and downs in his relationship with the current front office, it could make sense for him to look elsewhere. He’ll certainly command a big contract from a different team.
Allen seems like a slightly more likely signing, but even he doesn’t feel like a lock to return. A slow start to the year hurt his production in 2024, and while he picked it up down the stretch, he turns 33 in April and is coming off a career-low in yards per game. Given the Bears’ dire needs on the offensive and defensive line, it feels like a better use of resources to invest in the trenches.
Updated cap space: $58,878,403
Extensions
- CB Kyler Gordon: Three years, $39 million ($13M AAV)
An extension of Kyler Gordon wouldn’t significantly kick into the Bears’ cap space until 2026, as he will still be playing the 2025 season under the last year of his rookie deal. That said, signing their nickel cornerback to an extension should be a priority this offseason.
He’s a key part of their defense, thriving in the secondary and serving as one of the most consistent slot defenders in the league. He brings ideal effort and physicality as a tackler, and he mirrors route concepts well in coverage. This extension would lock him down through 2028 and make him the second-highest paid slot cornerback in the NFL.
Free agency signings
- OG Trey Smith: Four years, $88 million ($22.0M AAV)
- C Drew Dalman: Four years, $46 million ($11.5M AAV)
- DE Payton Turner, One year, $3 million
- DT Teair Tart: One year, $2.5 million
- WR Tim Patrick: One year, $1.7 million
- OT Dan Skipper: One year, $1.5 million
- TE Josiah Deguara: One year, $1.2 million
The big splash here is Smith, who’s no guarantee to hit the open market. That said, those around the league seem to think the Bears are a likely landing spot if the Chiefs don’t lock him down. As one of the top guards in the NFL currently, Smith is coming off a Pro Bowl season and likely still has his best football ahead of him. This deal makes him the highest-paid guard in the league, which a team will likely have to do to secure him in free agency.
The other big signing is Dalman, who has graded as a top-five center by PFF each of the last two seasons. He’s a decent pass protector but a tremendous run blocker, which is a similar skill set to that of Ben Johnson’s center in Detroit, Frank Ragnow. This deal would make him the sixth-highest center in the NFL, which is about where he ranks league-wide. This signing, along with a potential Smith deal, would give the Bears two high-end starters for their interior offensive line.
The rest of these signings are rotational or backup signings. Turner has experience in new Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s system and is a low-risk, high-reward signing at just 26 years old. Tart has been on four teams in the last two seasons, but he’s been a very good run defender who can generate pressure up the middle. Patrick and Skipper have experience in Ben Johnson’s offense, with the former serving as a potential WR3 with Keenan Allen gone. Deguara is a tight end/fullback hybrid type of H-back who has played under new Bears pass game coordinator Press Taylor.
Updated cap space to fill out 90-man and sign rookies: $15,478,403
Mock draft
Projected trade
Bengals receive: No. 10 pick
Bears receive: No. 17 pick, No. 49 pick
- Round 1 (projected trade with Bengals): Kenneth Grant, DT, Michigan
- Round 2: Donovan Jackson, OG, Ohio State
- Round 2: Princely Umanmielen, EDGE, Ole Miss
- Round 2 (projected trade with Bengals): Kaleb Johnson, RB, Iowa
- Round 3: Andrew Mukuba, S, Texas
- Round 5: Jaylin Noel, WR, Iowa State
- Round 6: Seth McLaughlin, C, Ohio State
- Round 7: Taylor Elgersma, QB, Wilfred Laurier
- Round 7: Carter Runyon, TE, Towson
Every time I include a mock draft with a trade, I have to clarify that trading up and trading down is easier said than done. If the Bears move down in real life like they do here, a team would need to be willing to trade up. That said, let’s just say they do for the fun of it!
If the likes of Mason Graham, Will Campbell and Kelvin Banks Jr. are off the board, it could benefit the Bears to trade down. Here, they move down and secure another second-round pick in the process.
Grant is the run-stuffing 1-technique the Bears need, and he would rotate in on running downs with Andrew Billings as the 1-tech on passing downs. Grant could also generate some nice pressure up the middle, too, due to his elite size-adjusted athleticism and his active hands. He would eventually step in as the full-time starting defensive tackle opposite Gervon Dexter.
Jackson has the physical attributes to thrive at guard, and he displayed improved hand usage in 2024. His ability to kick outside to tackle with Josh Simmons’ season-ending injury speaks to his adaptability. Umanmielen has done a good job of gaining good weight to his frame, maintaining the athleticism that has made him a force off the edge in college. He has the length, production, and physical profile to warrant a top-50 selection at least. Johnson stood out as a breakout star in 2024, showcasing the size, speed, power and vision to be a starting back in the NFL. He would be a fantastic power-based back to D’Andre Swift’s more agile back skill set.
The remaining picks would be depth pieces in 2025, but some of them have serious starting potential. Mukuba is a rangy safety in coverage who plays hard in run support, and safety is a sneaky long-term need for the Bears with Kevin Byard over 30 and Jaquan Brisker having a worrisome injury history. Noel is a twitchy slot receiver who can stretch the field with tremendous speed, making him a potential WR3 candidate.
McLaughlin would likely be selected earlier, were it not for a season-ending injury. He has quick feet, good grip strength and a low center of gravity. Elgersma is an enigma at the Canadian collegiate level who fared well at the Senior Bowl and showed the impressive arm strength he displayed at the U Sports level. Runyon is a productive small-school tight end with a large catch radius and impressive ball skills, which is a much more reasonable investment in Round 7 than in Round 2. Looking at you, Ryan Pace.
Final 53-man roster
- QB (3): Caleb Williams, Tyson Bagent, Taylor Elgersma
- RB (3): Kaleb Johnson, D’Andre Swift, Roschon Johnson
- WR (6): DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Tim Patrick, Jaylin Noel, Tyler Scott, DeAndre Carter
- TE (3): Cole Kmet, Josiah Deguara, Carter Runyon
- OT (4): Braxton Jones, Darnell Wright, Kiran Amegadjie, Dan Skipper
- OG (3): Trey Smith, Donovan Jackson, Matt Pryor
- C (2): Drew Dalman, Seth McLaughlin
- DE (6): Montez Sweat, Princely Umanmielen, DeMarcus Walker, Payton Turner, Austin Booker, Daniel Hardy
- DT (5): Gervon Dexter, Kenneth Grant, Andrew Billings, Teair Tart, Chris Williams
- LB (4): T.J. Edwards, Tremaine Edmunds, Jack Sanborn, Noah Sewell
- CB (6): Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, Tyrique Stevenson, Terell Smith, Josh Blackwell, Jaylon Jones
- S (5): Kevin Byard, Jaquan Brisker, Andrew Mukuba, Jonathan Owens, Elijah Hicks
- ST (3): Cairo Santos, Tory Taylor, Scott Daly