We are less than a week away from the Chicago Bears' 2025 training camp opening up, which means we only have a couple of training camp battles left to discuss.
After the 2025 NFL Draft, the Bears' tight end room seemed pretty set with rookie Colston Loveland, veteran Cole Kmet, and free agent Durham Smythe.
But something happened during OTAs that got fans and media talking. Who is Joel Wilson, and will he make the team?
Before we dive into Wilson, let’s discuss Smythe. If Wilson is going to unseat Smythe for a spot on the 53-man roster, he’s going to have to have one heck of a camp, and here’s why. First of all, Smythe is familiar with Ben Johnson. Smythe has been with the Miami Dolphins his entire career, dating back to 2018. Johnson was on the Dolphins coaching staff when Smythe was a rookie back in 2018.
The other issue is when you look at the contract. Smythe signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract with the Bears in the spring. Of that $2.5 million, $1.5 million has been guaranteed. Now, while it’s not impossible to eat $1.5 million of guaranteed money (Bears previously ate $2 million guaranteed when Tyson Bagent beat out PJ Walker), you also don’t hand out that kind of guarantee unless you expect the player to be on the roster.
Smythe brings a veteran presence, who is known to be a good blocker, and has familiarity with Ben Johnson and what he wants to accomplish at the point of attack. For your TE3, that’s pretty much exactly what any team would want.
Enter Joel Wilson.
Wilson was an undrafted free agent after he finished his collegiate career at Central Michigan. He spent the 2023 season on three different practice squads, including the Green Bay Packers.
Wilson spent a little time on the Giants' practice squad to start the 2024 season, but spent most of last year on the Bears' practice squad and was offered a reserves contract in January.
If we’re being honest, Wilson had been an afterthought for me the entire offseason. The Bears' tight end room seemed set, Stephen Carlson could hold a practice squad spot and be elevated if the Bears had an injury to their tight end room, it was an open and shut situation.
But things changed during OTAs. Wilson impressed. Wilson showed the ability to get open, had a strong grasp of the offense, and Ben Johnson singled him out to the media.
Wilson is a better pass-catcher than Smythe, so if the Bears decide they want more of an offensive threat on the team, perhaps Wilson can grab a 53-man roster spot. Two things are going to be critical for Wilson. One, Johnson mentioned, is how he will handle blocking assignments when pads come on in training camp, and the second aspect is how Wilson handles roles on special teams. The third tight end on a team is going to have a significant role on special teams, and Wilson needs to show he can handle that.
There is one avenue for Wilson to make the team, and he wouldn’t have to surpass Smythe; in this case, he would make it alongside Smythe, if the Bears decide to carry four tight ends.
As we’ve mentioned previously during this series, assuming the Bears keep 25 offensive players on their 53-man roster, they presumably have 24 spots that are pretty secure. They’ll keep 3 QBs (Williams, Bagent, Keenum), 4 RBs (Swift, Johnson, Monangai, Homer), 5 WRs (Moore, Odunze, Burden, Zaccheaus, Duvernay), 3 TEs (Kmet, Loveland, Smythe), and 9 OL (the last couple of OL reserves are still up for grabs).
If the Bears have that breakdown for 24 spots, who is the 25th? Odds are they will not keep 10 offensive linemen on the 53, and we know they won’t be keeping 4 quarterbacks, so it comes down to a 5th running back, a 6th wide receiver, or a 4th tight end.
If the Bears don’t go out and trade for another running back (like Kenneth Walker), that means that 25th spot becomes a competition between Ian Wheeler, Tyler Scott, Myles Boykin, and Joel Wilson.
If Johnson wants to really lean heavily into tight end usage, he may think the best way to utilize the 25th spot on the offense is with someone like Wilson that appears to have the ability to be effective in the passing game.
If the Bears end up with only three tight ends on the roster, the odds are heavy that Smythe will be the third tight end. But if Wilson impresses this summer, don’t be surprised if he grabs the last spot on the roster on the offensive side of the ball.