The Bears earned nearly universal praise for their work over the last three weeks in free agency.
Go right down the line and there's little or no criticism, with high grades offered up throughout for the moves they made. whether it was trading ahead of the start to free agency to avoid losing a chance at obtaining guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson, or actually signing Drew Dalman, Dayo Odeyingbo, Grady Jarrett and Olamide Zaccheaus. They've done it all to applause.
It's accolades from NFL columnist Jeffri Chadiha saying they won free agency and it wasn't close, or colleague Kevin Patra including Ben Johnson's signing within this analysis, to the CBS team of Tyler Sullivan , Garrett Podell and Jordan Dajani seeing everything done with Caleb Williams in mind to USA Today's Nate Davis ranking them right with Baltimore as best overall and Pro Football Focus finding no flaws and even praising the signing of long snapper Scott Daly.
Dayo Odeyingbo is still figuring things out as a pass rusher but the raw potential is there. So powerful at the point of attack pic.twitter.com/xSvnADtPeU
— Zach Hicks (@ZachHicks2) August 15, 2022
Yet, lingering in the shadows, even lurking to each and every move they made in the offseason is one central negative theme rarely discussed in critiques of the Ryan Poles-Ben Johnson work performed.
It is lightly identified or actually touched on a bit by one of the few grades given the Bears where they weren't put up on pedestals.
What I love about Grady Jarret is his blend of strength power and elusiveness.
You can’t block this guy 1 on 1. Plays with an excellent base you can see why this guy was a state Champion heavyweight wrestler. #DaBears #Bears #ChicagoBears
pic.twitter.com/pl6ksipS0p
— Clay Harbor (@clayharbs82) March 10, 2025
Tyler Brooke of The 33rd Team gave the Bears only a "B" grade for what they did. He found what they achieved as less positive than the following teams in the NFC alone: Cardinals, Panthers, Lions, Rams, Vikings, Giants, Buccaneers and Commanders.
Brooks worried that even though they identified their weaknesses in the trenches and took action to correct those, they took big swings with too much money in the process. And then he talked about flaws in a few of the moves.
Drew Dalman calling out protections vs. Flores. He talks to both sides of the line before the ball is snapped pic.twitter.com/niKw0SRbfy
— NOT Ashton Jeanty’s Agent (@TommyK_NFLDraft) March 11, 2025
While Brooke is acknowledging the positive, he's at least putting a finger on the negative.
The problem with his critique is he's looking at the trees too closely without seeing the forest.
There is one common denominator to this negative side of what the Bears did with their retooling project and it doesn't really require a magnifying glass for each pick. It's best summed up by one word: uncertainty.
"Drew Dalman is a massive move for the Chicago Bears..
Ben Johnson realized what he had with that offensive line in Detroit" ~ @aqshipley #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/HVq0kRwzJ2
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 11, 2025
Any team spending as much and giving up as much in draft capital should not have so high a degree of uncertainty surrounding so many of the acquisitions they made. There should be a stack of slam dunks, but that isn't the case with these Bears moves.
Sure, there are usually questions about many players brought in by teams in free agency. If they were entirely flawless, the teams they already played for should have probably bent over backwards to retain them but they obviously didn't.
However, in the case of every single Bears acquisition there is at least one basic, potential problem looming that could unravel the moves. Sometimes it's a similar flaw.
Jonah Jackson is a calculated — though not inexpensive — roll of the dice for the Bears. He's had multiple injuries the past 2 seasons (wrist/ankle/shoulder/knee) and lost his job with the Rams. But the Ben Johnson seal of approval is key after Ryan Poles whiffed on Nate Davis.
— Mark Potash (@MarkPotash) March 4, 2025
Perhaps only the signing of Dalman came the closest to a flawless maneuver. Dalman's overall grade among centers from Pro Football Focus put him fourth last year among all and it's tough to find fault there.
However, a huge Bears concern is keeping Caleb Williams protected and Dalman was only ranked 12th best center for pass blocking. That's still top half of the league, but a flaw nonetheless.
#OnePride Hell of a combo block by Jonah Jackson (LG 73) and Frank Ragnow (C 77) on this DT. Pushes him all the way to the LB and gets him tripped up. Also, Ragnow gives him a good push at the end.
Meanwhile...this run from D'Andre Swift 😳🔥😳👀 pic.twitter.com/90sx7hkZZg
— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) October 21, 2020
The rest of the moves all had major uncertainties attached. Jackson's lost 2024 season, the age of Thuney and Jarrett, the lack of proven success by inexperienced Odeyingbo all cause enough concern to go beyond the blemish label.
Giving up a fourth-round pick for Thuney when he might bolt after a year looks like a repeat of last year's Keenan Allen mistake.
Check out LG Joe Thuney not only get to the second level on CEH's TD run but also manage to flip his hips on the block. pic.twitter.com/PzCBgO86gS
— Nate Tice (@Nate_Tice) December 15, 2021
The sixth-round pick for Jackson isn't much concern as sixth-round selections rarely amount to a lot and getting a starter in return is a real plus. However, paying as much as they did for Jackson against the cap in their future is an issue.
So many flaws leading to uncertainty overall against each of these players doesn't seem like the type of thing an "A" level offseason should be made of and, at least in this one analyst's grade, it isn't a perfect grade.
Seriously going to miss Joe Thuney here so much. Pillar of that IOL, and a huge asset to the Chiefs dynastic run. 2x Super Bowl champ, and he’s still this humble. Grateful! Go be great in Chicago, @JosephThuney !! Forever a Chief. ❤️💛 https://t.co/noNvPLjZ60
— Lexi (@lexiosborne) March 14, 2025
The flaws should be duly noted as the players set about preparing for offseason work that commences in mid-April.
Identifying needs and addressing them directly is always a positive, and perhaps everyone needs to realize all NFL players have faults. The Bears need to hope they've minimized those with these decisions.
I think the Chicago #Bears are going be a PREMIUM DESTINATION for free agents this year!
Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams are going to be a helluva draw to bring dudes in......IMO.
— The Man About Tech (@Vyyyper) February 6, 2025
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