Bear Digest

Backup Free Agents the Chicago Bears Must Consider for Return

Depth proved critical for the Bears last season and they'll enter free agency with several of the players who played big backup roles on the open market. Who should they sign?
Gene Chamberlain|
Bears receiver Olamide Zaccheaus scores a touchdown during the fourth quarter of their wild card playoff win.
Bears receiver Olamide Zaccheaus scores a touchdown during the fourth quarter of their wild card playoff win. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Free agency affects a team's depth just like it does their starting lineup.

The Bears, in 2025, proved to have far more depth than it looked like they had when the season began, particularly on the defensive side. When they didn't have suitable replacements, GM Ryan Poles went out and found some in players like D'Marco Jackson and C.J. Gardner-Johnson.  

"It happens to most teams each season, too, where your depth gets tested," coach Ben Johnson pointed out during the rash of injuries in 2025.

This needs to be taken into account when the Bears sit down and determine how they'll need to spend their money in 2026. Some backups require more money than others. Some are more valuable.

Here are the seven most valuable backup free agents, ranked by the Bears’ need to sign them.

One other not included is Travis Homer, who is constantly referred to as indispensable by special teams coordinator Richard Hightower but appears to have little other value and could be easily replaced during an offseason.

7. TE Durham Smythe

The third tight end is valued in this offense because they will use 13-personnel packages on rare occasion plus they need the backup help in case one of the top two gets injured. When they use 12-personnel packages third most in the NFL and with the sixth-best EPA, they do need a third who knows what he is doing. Smythe is supposed to be a good blocker but didn't show it this year by PFF grades. He was the worst of their three tight ends in blocking grade and had just four catches with one drop. They still have Stephen Carlson under a futures contract and two other tight ends in Qadir Ismail and Nikola Kalinic, but neither has proven anything in the NFL.

6. WR Olamide Zaccheaus

With so many dropped passes (5) in the regular season, he made it awfully hard for the Bears to consider bringing him back. They have Jahdae Walker, who could move up a spot in the pecking order. Luther Burden is the No. 1 slot now. Zaccheaus’ speed was valued greatly heading into the season but his 8.0 yards per reception was incredibly disappointing.

5. CB C.J. Gardner-Johnson

Gardner-Johnson had a few really impactful games, especially the one against the Giants, and made two interceptions. This coaching staff seems to lack much confidence in Josh Blackwell to play as the backup slot cornerback in this scheme that relies more often on man-to-man coverage. The last coaching regime had no problem turning to him as backup in a zone scheme. So Gardner-Johnson was brought in but paying him much isn't going to be a priority when they have so many other players to pay and so little money available. Besides, Gardner-Johnson wasn't all that effective. He was graded 87th out of 98 cornerbacks in coverage by PFF. His real value was as a blitzing nickel but that's a role plenty of speedier slots could do as well. 

4. S Elijah Hicks

No one will be too worried about losing a backup safety when both of your starters are free agents but Hicks has been a player who performed when called upon and had to do it frequently in the past. It's just that in 2025 they didn't need him to start for the first time in his career. He had 15 starts from 2022-24. Hicks actually improved drastically in 2024 when the Bears had to use him more and ranked 14th among the top 97 safeties Pro Football Focus graded in stopping the run, 38th at defending the pass. He also is a key special teams player. Hicks' value is inflated here by the fact they have none of their top four safeties under contract.

 3. C Ryan Bates

He has been nothing more than an insurance policy for two years with 105 offensive snaps played, all in 2024. In fact, he has played in an NFL offense only 138 plays the last three years. Only seven of those plays were at center for the Bears. Then again, who is their backup center if it's not Bates? They tried training rookie Luke Newman at this but there's no evidence this succeeded. The Rams did turn to Jonah Jackson as a center in the past but with terrible results. Maybe they'd put Joe Thuney there in case of an injury to Drew Dalman. He does everything else, anyway. They don't actually have a player signed to a futures contract right now who was a center.

2. CB Nahshon Wright

Going from practice squad/waiver scrap heap to the Pro Bowl rarely happens, so Wright's value looks great. But if someone is willing to part with eight figures per year of their salary cap for a backup who gave up six touchdown passes in 2025, more power to them. The Bears committed to Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon as big-ticket items at cornerback. They have Tyrique Stevenson, who actually had a decent season in 2025 coming off the Hail Mary season and is under contract one more year, and there are two backups under contract in Terell Smith and Zah Frazier who didn't even play in 2025. Wright's return seems very unlikely even though he would carry value. It looks far more likely they'd have their regular starting cornerbacks on the field when 2026 OTAs begin.

1. LB D'Marco Jackson

There is no doubt Jackson played well in a scheme he already knew. Counting the playoff games, he only started two games and played in six. It's not as if he became irreplaceable, even with a 35.4 passer rating against on 12 targets for the regular season, and no missed tackles in 43 attempts. Jackson played like a good backup. What makes him even more important as a replacement to sign is the fate of their top two starting linebackers might be uncertain. Someone could get cut for cap purposes. Until a decision comes down on this, then his real value to the Bears is uncertain.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.