Complete Bears Offseason Guide: Draft Picks, Free Agents, and What Comes Next

The Bears have wrapped up the 2026 NFL Draft and it's time to take a look back at everyone the team has brought in this offseason, and what's ahead.

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

The 2026 NFL Draft has now passed and it's time to look ahead to the rest of the offseason for the Chicago Bears.

Chicago has navigated both free agency and the draft and what you see with the current roster is likely what you're going to get come Week 1. There will probably be some minor additions, but chances are the Bears have already made their biggest moves.

With that in mind, let's go over the entire 2026 NFL Draft class and the free-agent signings the team has made to see how those players will fit in for the coming season.

We'll also take a look at what's next, including the second wave of free agency and the offseason program, among other things.

Bears' 2026 NFL Draft picks

Oregon Ducks defensive back Dillon Thieneman. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

• Round 1, Pick 25: S Dillon Thieneman, Oregon

• Round 2, Pick 57: C Logan Jones, Iowa

• Round 3, Pick 69: TE Sam Roush, Stanford

• Round 3, Pick 89: WR Zavion Thomas, LSU

• Round 4, Pick 124: CB Malik Muhammad, Texas

• Round 5, Pick 166: LB Keyshaun Elliott, Arizona State

• Round 6, Pick 213: Jordan van den Berg, Georgia Tech

Thieneman is the most obvious immediate starter from this group, but it gets murky after that.

Jones and Muhammad will compete for starting jobs at their respective positions, but we'd give Muhammad better odds to secure a job over Tyrique Stevenson than Jones over Garrett Bradbury.

Thomas, Roush and Elliott are likely looking at very limited roles early on, and van den Berg will have an uphill climb to make the roster, let along grab a role, although we really like what he brings to the table with his athleticism and past prowess against the run.

Bears' 2027 NFL Draft Picks

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

• Round 1

• Round 2

• Round 3

• Round 4

• Round 5

• Round 6

• Round 7

It's worth knowing what the Bears have to work with in 2027, and for a few reasons.

The most obvious one is the Bears may need one or more of these picks to acquire help during the season if they're lacking in any area, like edge rusher, for example.

We should also point out that the 2027 NFL Draft is expected to be much deeper than this year's, so teams are going to be trying to stockpile picks. As of right now, the Bears are in good shape.

Signed free agents

Cleveland Browns linebacker Devin Bush. | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

• WR Kalif Raymond

• DL Neville Gallimore

• DL James Lynch

• EDGE Kontavius Street

• LB Devin Bush

• LB Jack Sanborn

• DB Cameron Lewis

• S Coby Bryant

This is the group of outside free agents the Bears signed, so it does not include players who were on the team in 2025 and re-signed this offseason.

This list is headlined by safety Coby Bryant and linebacker Devin Bush, both of whom will start and replace significant departures.

Bryant will get the starting nod next to Thieneman, and those two are replacing Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker. Meanwhile, Bush is the solution to replacing Tremaine Edmunds

Wide receiver Kalif Raymond and defensive lineman Neville Gallimore will also play important roles. Raymond will likely be serving as the WR3 and main returner, while Gallimore is the first player off the bench upfront and can hopefully provide a boost to Chicago's run defense and/or pass-rush on the inside. Gallimore had 3.5 sacks last season but his Pro Football Focus run defense grade (45.8) was just as bad as Gervon Dexter's (44.0) and Grady Jarrett's (44.5).

Defensive back Cam Lewis could prove to be a valuable depth piece, also. He has experience playing at both safety spots and in the slot. He only has 70 career snaps over six seasons on the boundary, though.

What's next for the Bears?

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Immediately, the second wave of free agency begins. There are a ton of players out there who have yet to sign and teams will begin turning back to them in order to plug any remaining holes.

We would love to see the Bears address edge rusher or interior defensive line with a big addition, whether that be through free agency or trade, and perhaps such a move is coming and that's why Chicago didn't address those needs in the draft. But we'll believe it when we see it.

In terms of the offseason schedule, it looks like this:

• Rooke minicamp: May 1-4 or May 8-11

• OTA offseason workouts: May 27-29, June 2-4

• Mandatory Minicamp: June 9-11

• Training camp: July (around third week of July)

The regular season will begin in September, but we won't know the exact dates and times of all Bears games until around the second week of May, when the schedules are released.