2026 Chicago Bears season

2026 Chicago Bears season
OwnerGeorge McCaskey
General managerRyan Poles
Head coachBen Johnson
Home stadiumSoldier Field
Results
Record0–0
Uniform

The 2026 season will be the Chicago Bears' 107th in the National Football League (NFL), their fifth under the leadership of general manager Ryan Poles and their second under head coach Ben Johnson. The Bears will seek to improve upon their 11–6 record from the previous season and repeat as NFC North champions for the first time since 2006.

Offseason

Roster changes

Free agents

Position Player Tag 2026 team Date signed Contract Source
C Ryan Bates UFA
SS Jaquan Brisker UFA Pittsburgh Steelers March 12, 2026 1 year, $5.5 million [1]
FS Kevin Byard UFA New England Patriots March 11, 2026 1 year, $9 million [2]
DT Andrew Billings UFA
LS Scott Daly UFA
WR Devin Duvernay UFA
FS C. J. Gardner-Johnson UFA Buffalo Bills March 12, 2026 1 year, $6 million [3]
SS Elijah Hicks UFA Chicago Bears March 12, 2026 [4]
RB Travis Homer UFA
MLB D'Marco Jackson UFA Chicago Bears March 11, 2026 2 year, $7.5 million [5]
LT Braxton Jones UFA Chicago Bears March 11, 2026 1 year, $10 million [6]
CB Jaylon Jones UFA Chicago Bears March 13, 2026 [7]
QB Case Keenum UFA Chicago Bears March 11, 2026 2 year, $5.5 million [8]
CB Nick McCloud UFA
SS Jonathan Owens UFA
MLB Jalen Reeves-Maybin UFA
DE Dominique Robinson UFA
TE Durham Smythe UFA
DE Joe Tryon-Shoyinka UFA
DT Chris Williams UFA
CB Nahshon Wright UFA New York Jets March 11, 2026 1 year, $5.5 million [9]
WR Olamide Zaccheaus UFA Atlanta Falcons March 11, 2026 1 year, TBD [10]
DE Daniel Hardy RFA Chicago Bears March 11, 2026 2 year, $4.97 million [5]
G Jordan McFadden RFA Chicago Bears March 12, 2026 1 year, $1.3 million [11]
LT Theo Benedet ERFA Chicago Bears March 11, 2026 1 year, $1 million [12]
RFA: Restricted free agent, UFA: Unrestricted free agent, ERFA: Exclusive-rights free agent

Legend

 –  Light green background indicates a player has been re-signed by the Bears.
 –  Light red background indicates a player has departed the Bears.

Signings

Position Player Previous team Date signed Contract Source
S Coby Bryant Seattle Seahawks March 11, 2026 3 year, $40 million [13]
LB Devin Bush Cleveland Browns March 11, 2026 3 year, $30 million [13]
DT Neville Gallimore Indianapolis Colts March 11, 2026 2 year, $12 million [13]
WR Kalif Raymond Detroit Lions March 11, 2026 1 year, $5.1 million [13]
OT Jedrick Wills Cleveland Browns March 12, 2026 1 year, $1.2 million [13]
CB Cam Lewis Buffalo Bills March 13, 2026 2 year, $6 million [13]
DT Kentavius Street Atlanta Falcons March 13, 2026 [13]

Trades

Position Arrived From Date of trade Departed
WR 2026 2nd-round pick Buffalo Bills March 11, 2026[14] D. J. Moore
2026 5th-round pick
C Garrett Bradbury New England Patriots March 11, 2026[15] 2027 5th-round pick

Reserve/future contracts

The Bears signed the following players to reserve/future contracts: Maurice Alexander (WR), Brittain Brown (RB), Stephen Carlson (TE), Luke Elkin (LS), Dallis Flowers (CB), Jonathan Garvin (DE), Dominique Hampton (OLB), Kyle Hergel (G), Qadir Ismail (TE), Nikola Kalinic (TE), Jamree Kromah (DE), Dontae Manning (CB), Jeremiah Martin (DE), Gervarrius Owens (S), JP Richardson (WR), and Nephi Sewell (OLB).


Releases

Draft

Main article: 2026 NFL draft
2026 Chicago Bears draft selections
Round Selection Player Position College Notes
1 25
2 57
60 From Bills[A]
3 89
4 125 Traded to the Kansas City Chiefs
129 From Rams
5 165 Traded to the Buffalo Bills
6 206 Traded to the Cleveland Browns[B]
7 239 From Eagles via Jaguars and Browns
241

Notes

  1. ^ The Bears traded a fifth-round selection (165th overall) and WR D. J. Moore to Buffalo in exchange for a second-round selection (60th overall).[16]
  2. ^ The Bears traded a sixth-round selection (209th overall) to Cleveland in exchange for a seventh-round pick (239th overall) and DE Joe Tryon-Shoyinka.[17]

Staff

Chicago Bears staff
Front office
  • Chairman – George McCaskey
  • President/CEO – Kevin Warren
  • General manager – Ryan Poles
  • Assistant general manager – Jeff King
  • Vice president of football administration – Matt Feinstein
  • Director of player personnel – Trey Koziol
  • Director of college scouting – Breck Ackley
  • Assistant director of college scouting – Francis St. Paul
  • Director of pro scouting – DJ Hord
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
  
Defensive coaches
  • Defensive coordinator – Dennis Allen
  • Defensive line – Jeremy Garrett
  • Linebackers – Richard Smith
  • Assistant linebackers – Kevin Koch
  • Defensive backs/passing game coordinator – Al Harris
  • Assistant defensive backs/safeties – Matt Giordano
  • Senior defensive assistant – Bill Johnson
  • Defensive assistant/nickels – Cannon Matthews
  • Defensive quality control – Kenny Norton III
Special teams coaches
Coaching administration
  • Senior director of coaching operations – Justin Rudd
  • Manager of coaching administration – Chavis Cook
  • Director of research and analysis – Harrison Freid
Strength and conditioning
  • Head strength and conditioning – Pierre Ngo
  • Assistant strength and conditioning – Allison Haley
  • Assistant strength and conditioning – Noble Landry
  • Assistant strength and conditioning – Reshard Langford
  • Assistant strength and conditioning – Mark Philippi

→ Coaching staff
→ Front office
→ More NFL staffs

Current roster

Chicago Bears roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams (ST)

Impending free agents (FA)

Preseason

The Bears' preseason opponents and schedule will be announced in the spring.

Regular season

2026 opponents

Listed below are the Bears' opponents for 2026. Exact dates and times will be announced in the spring.[18]

Category Home Away
Division opponents
(NFC North)		 Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Minnesota Vikings
Conference opponents
(NFC South)		 New Orleans Saints
Tampa Bay Buccaneers		 Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
Conference opponents
(based on 2025 division placement)		 Philadelphia Eagles Seattle Seahawks
Interconference opponents
(AFC East)		 New England Patriots
New York Jets		 Buffalo Bills
Miami Dolphins
Interconference opponent
(based on 2025 division placement)		 Jacksonville Jaguars No game

References

  1. ^ "Free agent Jaquan Brisker reaches deal with Steelers". ESPN. March 12, 2026. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  2. ^ Finley, Patrick (March 11, 2026). "Safety Kevin Byard's depature leaves Bears with leadership, production void". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved March 12, 2026.
  3. ^ Alaina Getzenberg (March 12, 2026). "Veteran safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson signs with Bills". ESPN. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  4. ^ "Chicago Bears announce five re-signings". www.chicagobears.com. Retrieved March 14, 2026.
  5. ^ a b Noble, Kole (March 9, 2026). "Ryan Poles and the Bears reach some last minute deals to prevent pending free agents from hitting the open market". Atozsports. Retrieved March 12, 2026.
  6. ^ Espn (March 9, 2026). "Source: Braxton Jones, Bears reach 1-year deal worth up to $10M". ESPN. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
  7. ^ Jr, Lester A. Wiltfong (March 14, 2026). "Report: Chicago Bears re-sign Jaylon Jones". Windy City Gridiron. Retrieved March 14, 2026.
  8. ^ Sugrue, Brendan. "Bears re-sign QB Case Keenum to 2-year deal". Bears Wire. Retrieved March 12, 2026.
  9. ^ "Jets add corner Nahshon Wright to revamped defense on one-year deal". March 11, 2026. Retrieved March 12, 2026.
  10. ^ Neveau, James (March 9, 2026). "Bears wide receiver Olamide Zaccheaus reportedly heading to Falcons". NBC Chicago. Retrieved March 12, 2026.
  11. ^ Jr, Lester A. Wiltfong (March 12, 2026). "Chicago Bears re-sign Jordan McFadden". Windy City Gridiron. Retrieved March 14, 2026.
  12. ^ Jr, Lester A. Wiltfong (February 5, 2026). "Chicago Bears re-sign Theo Benedet". Windy City Gridiron. Retrieved March 14, 2026.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g Courtney Cronin (March 11, 2026). "Bears 2026 free agency tracker: Offseason moves, signings". ESPN. Retrieved March 14, 2026.
  14. ^ White, Alec (March 11, 2026). "Buffalo Bills officially acquire wide receiver DJ Moore from Bears via trade". Buffalo Bills.
  15. ^ "Chicago Bears acquire OL Garrett Bradbury and second-round pick via trades". www.chicagobears.com. Retrieved March 14, 2026.
  16. ^ White, Alec (March 11, 2026). "Buffalo Bills officially acquire wide receiver DJ Moore from Bears via trade". Buffalo Bills.
  17. ^ "NFL news roundup: Bears acquiring DE Joe Tryon-Shoyinka in trade with Browns". NFL.com. Retrieved March 12, 2026.
  18. ^ "2026 NFL season: Team-by-team opponents for every game". NFL.com. Retrieved January 17, 2026.

Notes

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