Bears Secondary Will Need Some Reworking
Going into the 2025 season, not many viewed the Chicago Bears as locks for the playoffs. Sure, there was optimism for the offense.
Seeing as though Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams both have their tangibles, and a skill position group that underperformed all of last season.
Seen as Strength
The defense, though, was a patchwork unit with no viable pass rusher, at least proven other than Montez Sweat, and a linebacker group that had to make a lot of tackles after running backs got through the d-line with ease.
The secondary, however, was seen as a legit strength. All-Pro corner Jaylon Johnson has missed almost the entire season, and in his last 3 games, he has shown rust. Kyler Gordon, much like Johnson, has missed most of the season due to lingering hamstring issues. The problem with Gordon is that he just signed a new contract extension, and playing in only 3 games is a rough showing.
The Safety Dilemma
The Bears’ safeties have been really reliable in 2025. Nothing short of amazing has Kevin Byard been for the Bears. He is first in interceptions and has been an exceptional leader.
Jaquan Brisker hasn’t had the turnovers that Byard has gotten, but he has been really reliable in a time when the Bears couldn’t afford more injuries. Brisker was coming off another concussion-plagued season, so to see him step up is a nice change of pace.
The problem: Bears have almost no money to pay many of their other players.
They spent 70+ million on their interior offensive line. It has worked wonders this season, dropping Williams’ sack total in half (although Williams also deserves credit for that), but that was a deep penny to swallow.
The other part was Ryan Poles, who sank a lot in the defensive line, too. That hasn’t worked quite as well, as the Bears are still having trouble getting to the quarterback, ranking 20th in the NFL in sacks.
Both Byard and Brisker are free agents at the end of the season. How the Bears decide to spend their scarce resources could go a long way toward determining how they maneuver through the draft.
Draft Needs
The obvious one is Edge Rusher. The only capable pass rusher the Bears have had in Ryan Poles’ time as General Manager has been Montez Sweat. That just can’t be how the Bears operate. We all saw how the Eagles destroyed the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. It wasn’t just the offensive line that caused disruption; the defensive line did, too, and the Chiefs had no answers for it.
The other position I would think the Bears would look at is Safety.
The Caleb Downs discussions aren’t warranted, as he is a top-10-worthy pick, and the Bears aren’t going to have that this year (I would rather be talking playoffs anyway). However, the Bears can sign one of Byard/Brisker back and draft a capable safety to replace the other.
Either way, exciting times in the Windy City.
For once, the seas have parted, and the Bears seem to have the duo capable of delivering exciting times in the city not seen since Sweetness and the ’85 Bears defense.
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Categorized:Bears