Chicago Bears

Luther Burden III

WR

"Yesterday, he had numerous explosive plays," Johnson continued. "I'm really happy with him." Burden has had one of the biggest hype trains of the offseason after Chicago traded DJ Moore to the Bills back in March. As a rookie last season, Burden averaged 2.69 yards per route run, the highest mark for a first-year player since 2016, and only Puka Nacua and Jaxon Smith-Njigba posted better yards-per-route numbers in 2025. With Moore out of the picture, Burden is expected to play in all two-wide sets alongside Rome Odunze this season. In one of the league's more explosive offenses, Burden's arrow is pointing upward in a big way.

Dayo Odeyingbo

DE

Odeyingbo was limited to eight games during the 2025 regular season after sustaining a torn Achilles Nov. 2. It remains to be seen if the 2021 second-rounder, who signed a three-year, $48 million contract with the Bears in March of 2025, is limited at the start of training camp, but barring any setbacks, the 26-year-old should be able to reclaim his key role along Chicago's defensive line ahead of Week 1. Prior to his injury, Odeyingbo had recorded 21 tackles and 1.0 sacks. The Vanderbilt product's career high in sacks came in 2023, when he recorded 8.0 sacks in 17 regular-season contests with the Colts.

Kyler Gordon

CB

This is a concerning development after Gordon managed to play in just three regular-season games last year due to a variety of soft-tissue injuries. At this point of the year, players typically have plenty of time to recover from soft-tissue issues ahead of the campaign, but Gordon's medical history makes his current injury more notable. Still, Gordon has been an effective defender when healthy, so Chicago will hope he can return to full health and remain on the field during the upcoming season.

Anthony Johnson Jr.

S

Johnson was a seventh-round pick by the Packers in the 2023 Draft and has appeared in 21 career regular-season games, logging 29 tackles (20 solo) and four pass breakups, including one interception. He'll compete for a reserve role with Chicago.

Salvon Ahmed

RB

While with the Colts last summer, Ahmed suffered a serious ankle injury during training camp when he was brought down with a hip-drop tackle. He missed the entire 2025 season but is now healthy and ready to compete for a job in the Chicago backfield. The 27-year-old has 593 career rushing yards and five touchdowns on 163 carries across 38 regular-season games. He can also play special teams.

Kyron Hudson

WR

Hudson spent the first three years of his collegiate career at USC before transferring to Penn State in 2025. The wide receiver started six games in 2025 and played in all 13, amassing 23 receptions for 288 yards and two touchdowns. The 6-foot-1, 212-pound receiver may have played his way onto the roster in rookie minicamp, but he will have to prove his NFL talent even more as the offseason program goes on to reach training camp.

Scotty Miller

WR

Miller spent the last two seasons with the Steelers after spending the first four years of his NFL career with the Buccaneers, with a one-season stint with Atlanta sandwiched in between. He didn't see much work in the Steelers' offense, and he finished the 2025 regular season with only nine catches (on 14 targets) for 62 yards across 13 games. Rome Odunze and Luther Burden are the clear top wideouts for the Bears, so Miller will be competing for offensive snaps against Kalif Raymond, Zavion Thomas and Jahdae Walker.

Gabriel Plascencia

PK

Plascencia made 87.8 percent of his field-goal attempts (36-for-41) in his last three seasons at San Diego State. The kicker was 19-for-23 in 2025 and was likely brought in to keep long-time Bears kicker Cairo Santos on his game ahead of the season. Santos' track record of consistency means his job is likely not in danger, and there is a good chance Plascencia will either move on from the Bears or shift to the practice squad by the start of the regular season.

Miller Moss

QB

Moss ended his collegiate career at Louisville, but he was the No. 2 quarterback at USC for the 2022 season. Caleb Williams will now be reunited with his former backup as he heads into his third season in the NFL. Moss completed 64.2 percent of his passes for 2,679 yards, 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions over 12 games for Louisville in 2025. With Tyson Bagent and Case Keenum already on the Bears' quarterback depth chart, Moss' potential likely caps out as a scout-team contributor who synergizes well with Williams as he continues to cement himself as a starter in the league.

Hayden Large

TE

Large played three years at Dordt before transferring to Iowa for his remaining three collegiate seasons. The tight end logged eight starts among his 12 appearances in 2025, gathering eight receptions for 52 receiving yards. The 24-year-old has minimal upside as a pass catcher, but he brings a reputation as a superior run blocker. If his physicality holds up against NFL defenders, Large could carve out a depth role on a Bears team that prioritized a physical run game in 2025.

Omari Kelly

WR

Kelly ended his collegiate career at Michigan State, totaling 47 receptions for 626 yards and two touchdowns through 12 games with the Spartans in 2025. The wide receiver also earned second-team All-Conference USA honors at Middle Tennessee State in 2024 as a punt returner. If his game can translate to the NFL level, his special-teams experience could make him a valuable depth piece for the Bears.

Jordan van den Berg

DT

The Bears sent the Bills two seventh-round picks to move up and take van den Berg. A six-year collegiate athlete, van den Berg spent his final two seasons at Georgia Tech, starting 20 of 26 games and producing 67 tackles, 16.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks. He was a late bloomer but managed to earn All-ACC honors in his final season before running a 4.94 40-yard dash at 6-foot-3, 310 pounds at his pro day. There's room for him to grow with that level of athleticism, and the 2025 tape showed a player with the requisite skills to potentially earn a role in the NFL.

Keyshaun Elliott

LB

Elliott (6-foot-2, 231 pounds) transferred from New Mexico State to Arizona State in 2024, totaling three-and-a-half years as a starter between both teams and 301 tackles in that span. The 22-year-old's aggressiveness, physicality and ability to stop the run are well-established traits, but the same is arguably true for Elliott's limitations against coverage and his average athleticism. As a rookie in Chicago, Elliott figures to have every chance to prove he's capable of taking a step forward in his development while competing for depth snaps with Noah Sewell (Achilles), Jack Sanborn and 2025 fourth-round pick Ruben Hyppolite.

Malik Muhammad

CB

Muhammad (6-feet, 182 pounds) is perhaps on the smaller side for a boundary corner, but the former Texas standout has good reach (32 and 3/8-inch arms) for press purposes and his 4.42-second 40 demonstrates enough recovery speed to buy the idea of Muhammad starting down the road. He might be able to put some heat on Tyrique Stevenson for the second boundary corner role behind Jaylon Johnson as soon as this year.

Zavion Thomas

WR

Though he primarily operated on the boundary as a starter at LSU, Thomas showed his versatility in motions and backfield action, and he also has the experience on special teams as a returner on kickoffs and punts that should help him contribute immediately to the Bears. Thomas' speed and acceleration means he is a threat to make a game-altering play any time he touches the ball, which makes him an intriguing playmaker in the offensive scheme of head coach Ben Johnson. There's a real chance that Thomas beats out Jahdae Walker and Kalif Raymond to earn the Bears' WR3 job behind Rome Odunze and Luther Burden.

Sam Roush

TE

Roush (6-foot-6, 267 pounds) is a massive tight end and moves well for his build (4.7-second 40-yard dash, 38.5-inch vertical, 126-inch broad jump), but his short arms (30 and 5/8 inches) were a hindrance and a plausible explanation for his poor pass-catching production at Stanford. Athletic as he is, Roush projects more as a blocker than a receiver at the NFL level, and that's even before you account for the fact that Colston Loveland is obviously the featured pass-catching tight end for Chicago's indefinite future.

Logan Jones

C

Jones is light (6-foot-3, 299 pounds) and even more so has short arms (30 and 3/4 inches), but in literally every other regard the Iowa product is a blue-chip center. Despite his technically smallish build, there's very little concern about Jones translating at the next level. That's in large part due to his rare athleticism -- it's a lot easier to deal with short arms when you run a 4.9-second 40 with strong jumps and agility testing. Jones should be at least an average starting NFL center soon or immediately.

Dillon Thieneman

S

Thieneman would have been a justifiable selection somewhere in the top 20, so the Bears jumped at the chance to add the speedy safety with the 25th pick. Thieneman (6-feet, 201 pounds) was outrageously productive as a true freshman and sophomore starter at Purdue (2023-2024), accumulating triple-digit tackles in both seasons and intercepting six passes in the first season. Thieneman almost made it three seasons in a row with triple-digit tackles, but he finished with 'only' 96 tackles in his one season with Oregon (2025). With a 4.35-second 40 and 41-inch vertical, Thieneman showed he's a top-tier athlete in addition to a skilled safety.

Colston Loveland

TE

Loveland's role expanded significantly down the stretch in his rookie season, as the 2025 first-round pick caught 28 of 48 targets for 378 yards and two touchdowns over Chicago's last four games, two of which came in the playoffs. He suffered a concussion late in the Bears' NFC divisional-round loss to the Rams, but Loveland's comments indicate he has recovered from that injury and is ready to build on his momentum from last season in a Bears offense that traded away wide receiver DJ Moore earlier this offseason. Moore finished second on the team in receiving yards behind Loveland during the 2025 regular season.

T.J. Edwards

LB

Edwards suffered the injury in Chicago's wild-card win over the Packers back in January. "I will push as hard as I can to move it as quickly as possible, but I also want to be smart about it, too," Edwards said. "I'll be ready when it's time to go." After starting all 17 regular-season games in each of the previous three seasons, Edwards dealt with injuries in 2025 and made just 10 regular-season starts before his postseason injury.

Darnell Wright

OT

Wright will remain on the roster an additional year before further negotiations are required, now set to make almost $6.7 million in 2026 and $19 million in 2027 on the offensive tackle's fifth-year option. The right tackle is coming off a 2025 second-team All-Pro season, and the opportunity to retain the standout 24-year-old's services should help the Bears maintain strong run blocking and pass protection into 2026.

Jack Sanborn

LB

Sanborn is returning to Chicago, where he spent the first three years of his career before signing with the Cowboys for the 2025 campaign. The 25-year-old has seemingly recovered from the groin injury that landed him on Dallas' injured reserve last November and will likely serve in a depth role with the Bears during the upcoming campaign.

James Lynch

DT

Lynch played with the Vikings from 2020-23 and with the Titans from 2024-25, and he will now provide interior defensive line depth in Chicago. While suiting up for all 17 regular-season games with Tennessee in 2025, Lynch totaled 25 tackles (14 solo), including a half-sack, plus one pass defensed.

Elijah Hicks

S

The 2022 seventh-round pick from California is now slated to remain in Chicago after spending the first four seasons of his NFL career with the team. Hicks appeared in 17 regular-season games in 2025, recording 19 total tackles across 371 total snaps (309 on special teams, 62 on defense). He's expected to remain one of the Bears' top special-teamers during the 2026 campaign.

Jedrick Wills Jr.

OT

Following back-to-back injury-ruined seasons in 2023 and 2024, Wills sat out the 2025 campaign to let his knees heal. He's still just 26 years old and was the No. 10 overall pick in the 2020 Draft by the Browns. Wills gives the Bears a risk-free flyer at left tackle after Ozzy Trapilo suffered a torn patellar tendon in the wild-card win over the Packers in January.