Going into the start of free agency, it was clear that the Chicago Bears would be addressing needs they had on the defensive side of the ball. With both starting safeties, Jaquan Brisker and Kevin Byard, set to hit the open market, the top three of their linebacking core are injured (T.J. Edwards and Noah Sewell) or cut (Tremaine Edmunds, and only three interior defensive linemen are under contract.
General manager Ryan Poles got to work in the opening hours of the negotiation window, signing three players to fill holes at those positions, acquiring safety Coby Bryant, linebacker Devin Bush, and IDL Neville Gallimore. Zack and Usayd gave their initial thoughts on the signings yesterday. Poles also brought back a handful of his own players, re-signing linebacker D’Marco Jackson early in the morning, special teamer Daniel Hardy, quarterback Case Keenum, and left tackle Braxton Jones (for a reported one-year deal worth a minimum of $5m).
Poles seems to be learning from his prior mistakes when it comes to handing out contracts and who he’s handing them out too. Not a single player he brought in or retained is over 30, except for Keenum. These are players who have the best football ahead of them, and Poles got them at good value. Bryant was valued at $14.3m per year by Spotrac, and he signed for $13.3m per season. While Bush got over his market value ($10m vs. the $8.9m AAV), he’ll be making less than what Tremaine Edmunds would’ve been making for the Bears at $15m (also less than the deal Edmunds received from the New York Giants at $12m AAV).
On top of that, Poles has done an excellent job structuring some of these contracts. Per Spotrac, Byrant will only have a cap hit of $5.9m for 2026, Gallimore will have a $4m cap hit, and per Over The Cap, Jackson will have a cap hit of just over $3m. This has allowed the Bears to operate with greater flexibility as free agency progresses. As it currently stands (without knowing the structure of Bush’s deal), the Bears have another $9.6m in available cap space.
While it’s not the most in the league, the Bears still have enough money to add another safety, whether it’s bringing in someone new or re-signing Kevin Byard, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Jonathan Owens, or Elijah Haicks. Chicago could create an additional $21.8m in cap space (bringing their total to $31.4m) by restructuring the contracts of Jaylon Johnson, Joe Thuney, and Jonah Jackson.
Anyway you slice it, Ryan Poles had himself a really good day yesterday, and I’ll be watching to see what he does on day two.
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