For the past few years, the Chicago Bears have managed to make enough splashy offseason moves to drum up excitement. It’s almost become an annual tradition: The Bears are celebrated in the spring and summer, only to fall apart before winter.
The 2025 offseason has been no different. Chicago landed the most coveted candidate of this year’s coaching cycle, former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, and have already made several key acquisitions. Once again, Chicago’s offseason moves have led to a glimmer of hope. Six NFL executives unanimously named the Bears as the most improved team in free agency this offseason, according to Matt Lombardo.
The Bears bolstered the interior of their offensive line with two trades, acquiring All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney from the Kansas City Chiefs and Pro Bowl right guard Jonah Jackson from the Los Angeles Rams, then signed center Drew Dalman in free agency. On the opposite end of the ball, Chicago signed defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo to lucrative contracts.
“They added big-time ‘trench players’ on both sides of the football,” an NFC South personnel executive told Lombardo.
Bear Trap? Chicago is fooling fans into misguided optimism once again
This isn’t the first time that Chicago has appeared to make all of the right offseason additions. They have often positioned themselves to become media darlings, invoking optimism even though none is deserved. The Bears haven’t won a playoff game since 2010. They’ve managed to put together just two winning seasons since then, the last of which was six years ago.
Before the 2022 season, NFL Network’s Adam Rank wrote, “The Bears are not the worst team in football.” By the end of the season, they proved him wrong. Chicago finished with a league-worst 3-14 record. Heading into the 2023 season, ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky predicted that former Bears quarterback Justin Fields would have an MVP-caliber season in an offense that “traditionally props quarterbacks up.” Three games — and three losses — into the regular season, Orlovsky said the Bears offense was “godawful.”
Chicago’s hype reached a fever pitch after they selected quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Williams, who was touted as a generational prospect, was expected to immediately turn the Bears into immediate postseason contenders.
Bears general manager Ryan Poles surrounded the rookie with an abundance of offensive weapons. The Bears added wide receivers Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze, tight end Gerald Everett and running back D’Andre Swift to an offense that already featured top wide receiver DJ Moore and tight end Cole Kmet. Before the season, NFL Network’s Adam Rank projected that the Bears would win 10 games and earn a trip to the playoffs.
“This era -- the Caleb Williams era -- feels different,” Rank wrote. “The Bears have a lot of competent football people in charge. … These are NOT the same Bears who fumbled quarterback development over the last 30 years.”
While Chicago was busy stockpiling talent at the skill positions, they overlooked a fatal flaw: They paired a rookie quarterback who held onto the ball for far too long with an offensive line that struggled in pass protection. The Bears fired their offensive coordinator and head coach midseason, then won just five games.
Offseason championships only bring short-lived praise, and they are accompanied by regret and disappointment rather than rings and trophies. While the Bears appear to be on the right path, it’s better to take a wait-and-see approach when it comes to projecting their success.