Bears left tackle
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 10: Head coach Ben Johnson of the Chicago Bears walks onto the field prior to the game against the Miami Dolphins during the NFL Preseason 2025 game at Soldier Field on August 10, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
The Chicago Bears ended the 2025-26 season with an 11-6 record and in the top spot in the NFC North, after finishing at the bottom of the division just one year earlier, so it was a winning season for head coach Ben Johnson and company. But, the team didn’t go all the way, and while it would have been pretty crazy to see that happen during Johnson’s first year as head coach, it still hurt.
So, Johnson and the Bears are putting together their lineup for the 2026-27 season and focusing on getting the right mix of talent together to, God willing, take them all the way. It’s a difficult task, but if anyone can get this team to the final game after years of misery, it’s Johnson.
But, one voice in the NFL think the Bears haven’t done what they’ve needed to do in at least one glaring area. He also believes the Chicago Bears will be easier for other teams to beat during the 2026-27 season because of this hole in their lineup.
Chicago Bears and Ben Johnson May Regret Decision for the 2026-27 Season
Now, this report is coming from a Detroit Lions beat reporter, so take that into account. But, in a Monday, April 6 feature for Detroit Jock City, Jovan Alford states why he believes the Chicago Bears have problems on the team’s secondary.
“The Bears saw a mass exodus in their secondary as Kevin Byard III, Jaquan Brisker, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Nahshon Wright, and Jonathan Owens all signed one-year contracts with new teams,” he states in the feature.
Alford says that the Detroit Lions, who he has to mention beat the Bears twice during the 2025-26 regular season, were especially “happy to see Byard and Wright playing elsewhere.” Seeing the Lions happy is never something the Bears want to see.
“To replace Byard and Brisker, the Bears gave a bag to free-agent safety Coby Bryant, signing him to a three-year, $40 million deal,” he adds in the piece. “They also brought in versatile defensive back Cam Lewis, giving him a two-year, $6 million contract.”
But, Alford holds steady to the belief that having to “lean on Tyrique Stevenson as their CB2 with no Wright” is a “concerning proposition, as Stevenson’s play has been up and down over his first three years in the league.”
Ex-Detroit Lions Player Taylor Decker Rejects the Idea of Playing for the Chicago Bears
In other news, those hoping that Detroit Lions left tackle Taylor Decker would come over to the Bears in NFL free agency will be disappointed to hear that he’s not interested, according to a report.
The Detroit Football Network’s Justin Rogers appeared on the Thursday, April 2 episode of the Lions Collective podcast, and talked about his interview with Decker, in which the player talked about his annoyance with the poor communication from the franchise. He added that Decker doesn’t want to play with Chicago.
“I will tell you that he’s pretty anti-playing for the Bears and Packers. That’s the Lions background,” he said, adding, “I know Ben Johnson did it, and that was the right situation for him, but Taylor feels kind of dirty about the idea. It just isn’t interesting to him.”