One day into the NFL’s legal tampering period, the Chicago Bears have added talent on both sides of the football, shoring up the offensive and defensive line by signing veterans Drew Dalman, Grady Jarrett, and Dayo Odeyingbo.
Two positional groups which ended up being major needs for the franchise heading into 2025, the front office has sent a message, spending heavily in the trenches going into the 2025 NFL Draft.
With an aggressive approach to the offseason, the Bears are looking to go from worst in the NFC North to first in 2025 and Chicago’s recent signings are an indication of that.
But being aggressive in free agency also gives the Bears a chance to really maximize the NFL Draft. With four picks inside the top 75, the Bears have enough talent on the roster to go best player available if the front office chooses to do so.
Free Agency Allows Chicago Bears to Finally Draft and Develop Talent
Under general manager Ryan Poles, a key philosophy of the Chicago Bears has been drafting and developing talent. Throughout the first three seasons of Poles era, it was clear that at some spots, rookies were forced to start despite not being fully ready to play.
The biggest pro of signing veterans like Dalman, Jarrett, and Odeyingbo is that the coaching staff can finally do something that’s never been done in Chicago Bears history: Drafting and developing talent.
Instead of just rushing rookies onto the field and hoping that game reps help develop them, the coaching staff can finally take its time developing rookies into football players who can become long-term contributors to the team.
When 2026 eventually rolls around, the Bears could move on from veterans Jonah Jackson and Joe Thuney, saving some cap space in the process. At that point, it’d be an opportunity for younger players who spent all of 2025 developing, to become full-time starters. The biggest advantage?
Those players would be on cheap, rookie contracts for the next four seasons.
Drafting and Developing Means Long-Term Stability
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As the franchise searches for long-term success with new head coach Ben Johnson leading the way, the Bears approach this offseason is also one that will allow the team to become a long-term winner.
With roster turnover being a norm across the league every offseason, the Bears have structured their free agent deals in a way that allows younger and recently drafted players to become long-term starters when the franchise does decide to move on from established veterans.
It’s a formula that many of the top teams around the league tend to use and it’s one that will provide the front office with some additional flexibility in future years by consistently keeping the roster younger.
In a league that’s all about maximizing the window to win in a short amount of time, the Bears appear to be on an upward trajectory by using an approach that has never really been used in Chicago.
If the Bears’ recent signings and approach to the 2025 offseason are any indication, it’s that for the first time in nearly two years, the franchise might actually be able to move on from being labeled “offseason champions,” a title that the Bears garnered after winning the offseason in both 2023 and 2024, two years where the front office added a significant amount of talent of the roster.
The results will need to show on the field but on paper, the Bears have done everything possible to keep surrounding quarterback Caleb Williams with the talent he’ll need to succeed to really become the true franchise quarterback that the Bears have spent more than a century searching for.
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