The Bears had a wildly aggressive offseason, attempting to address the issues that arose in 2024. They made massive changes to their coaching staff and both their offensive and defensive personnel. How will the new additions fare in 2025? Only time will tell, but that won’t stop us from taking a look at the product they’ve assembled so far.
Chicago Bears’ Offseason Grade
Free Agency
The Bears didn’t wait too long before making a splash signing. They signed Drew Dalman to a three-year contract on the first day of free agency. Not too long after, they signed Dayo Odeyingbo and Grady Jarrett to shore up their defensive line.
Chicago has had some trouble finding stability at their kick returner spot, so they went out and snagged Devin Duvernay as their return man and a speed option in their receiving room.
Despite a somewhat lackluster free agency class, the Bears managed to land a big fish and some support players to their roster.
Grade: B+
2025 Draft

The Bears’ focus coming into the draft was made clear with their first few picks as they selected offense with all three of them. Colston Loveland, Luther Burden III, and Ozzy Trapilo could all be day one contributors within the new offensive system.
Trapilo will likely be competing with current left tackle Braxton Jones throughout OTAs and training camp for the starting position. Jones has been recovering from an unfortunate ankle injury, so the competition may be more open than some think.
Loveland and Burden may be talented, but some may argue that the Bears had bigger needs elsewhere when those two were selected.
Overall, the draft class seems good on paper. Hopefully, quarterback Caleb Williams will take advantage of his new weapons.
Grade: B-
Trades
Before free agency even started, the Bears made two major trades to address their offensive line. They moved a 2026 4th-round pick for Joe Thuney and a 2025 6th-round pick for Jonah Jackson.
Thuney has been an elite guard for quite some time. He has spent his career with the Patriots and Chiefs, winning two Super Bowls with each franchise as a key offensive lineman. Jonah Jackson hasn’t had such success, but he made his one and only Pro Bowl appearance while Ben Johnson was calling plays in Detroit.
The capital given up for each of these players and the ceiling for what the new-look offensive line can become make these two trades fantastic for Chicago
Grade: A-
Coaching Staff
Saving the best for last, the Bears hired easily the most sought-after head coach candidate on the market in Ben Johnson. He spent the last few years as the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions, so the Bears have some familiarity with his success as a play caller.
Johnson also brought in a very promising coaching staff to surround himself with. He brought Antwaan Randle El from Detroit to be a wide receivers coach and assistant head coach for the Bears, and the new youngest offensive coordinator in the league in Declan Doyle from Denver. Doyle was a tight ends coach under Sean Payton with the New Orleans Saints and Denver Broncos. When a coach like Payton is taking you with him, you know this guy is bringing something valuable to the table.
On the defensive side, the Bears hired Dennis Allen to be their new defensive coordinator. Allen may not have had success as head coach of the Saints, but his defenses have always been solid at the very least.
The Bears may not always have the best luck when hiring new coaches, but it seems like the knocked this new coaching staff out of the park.
Grade: A+
Total Offseason Grade
The Bears are clearly capitalizing on Williams’ cheap rookie deal and potential to surround him with as much talent to compete early on. They maximized their importing of talent while minimizing their losses. The new coaching staff should also be well equipped to squeeze every drop of talent out of the players on the roster. As a whole, this offseason was a massive success for the city of Chicago.
Grade: A-
Main Photo: [Kamil Krzaczynski] – USA Today Sports
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