Full List of Bears’ 2026 Free Agents and Potential Trade Candidates

By and large, the Bears’ 2025 campaign was a resounding success.

Under the watch of new head coach and play-calling wizard Ben Johnson, quarterback Caleb Williams took a significant step forward in his second season and the Bears clinched an NFC North title with an 11–6 record. It was Chicago’s first division title since 2018 and just their second since 2007.

The Bears’ newfound magic rolled into the wild-card weekend in a dramatic comeback win over the rival Packers at Soldier Field. It nearly happened again Sunday night in the divisional round when Caleb Williams’s desperate fourth-down heave to Cole Kmet forced overtime, but the Rams went on to win 20–17 on a field goal in overtime.

Now, Johnson and the Bears must look ahead to next season.

It’s time to take a look at the Bears’ key free agents, potential contract casualties and trade candidates heading into next year. But before we get into it, here’s a brief explainer on the different types of NFL free agents:

Unrestricted free agent: Any player with four or more accrued seasons and an expired contract. They are free to negotiate and sign with any team.
Restricted free agent: A player with three accrued seasons and an expired contract. RFAs are free to negotiate and sign with any team, but their original team can offer them a qualifying offer—a.k.a. tenders—that come with the Right of First Refusal and/or draft pick compensation. If the tender is withdrawn by a team, the RFA becomes an unrestricted free agent.
Exclusive rights free agent: Any player with fewer than three accrued seasons and an expired contract. If his original team offers him a one-year contract at the league minimum, the player cannot negotiate with other teams.

With that in mind, here’s a glance at the Bears’ offseason ahead and the players set to hit free agency in March.

What divisional round loss to Rams means for Bears

The Bears exceeded all expectations in Year 1 of the Ben Johnson era. Entering the season, there were legitimate questions about if Williams, the No. 1 pick in 2024, really was the answer as the Bears’ franchise quarterback.

There still is plenty of room for Williams to grow—particularly in his decision making and playing on schedule—but he is definitely The Guy moving forward. In 17 regular-season games, Williams threw for 3,942 yards—just 58 yards short of becoming Chicago’s first quarterback to tally 4,000+ passing yards in a single season—with 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He was particularly great in the fourth quarter, notching a 94.3 passer rating while leading the Bears to a league-high six fourth-quarter comebacks.

Moving forward, it’s all about how the Bears build around the Johnson and Williams. Entering the offseason, the Bears are set to be an estimated $18.2 million over the cap in 2026, which ranks 22nd in the NFL. They’ll have to solve a few salary cap questions before making significant moves in free agency or elsewhere. Let’s take a look at who is set to hit the open market:

Bears 2026 free agents

The biggest names on the Bears’ offense set to hit free agency are a pair of tackles in Braxton Jones, who started four games this season and 44 overall since being selected by Chicago in 2022, and Theo Benedet, who started eight games in ‘25.

On defense, though, the Bears will have to address the future of a couple veteran starters:

Jaquan Brisker, safety

Brisker has started 52 games for the Bears since he was selected by Chicago in the second round of the 2022 NFL draft. In those four seasons, Brisker has tallied 342 tackles, 11 quarterback hits and four interceptions while surrendering a 109.2 passer rating to opposing quarterbacks in coverage.

Following the loss to Los Angeles on Sunday night, Brisker did say he’d like to return to Chicago. But plenty of teams around the NFL will be looking to sign an impact safety in free agency.

Kevin Byard, safety

Chicago is set to lose another key member of its secondary in veteran Kevin Byard, who has spent the last two seasons with the Bears. In 17 games this season, Byard registered 93 tackles, eight passes defensed and a league-high seven interceptions while getting voted to his third Pro Bowl appearance and third AP All-Pro first team.

Like Brisker, Byard also said Sunday night that he’s interested in returning to Chicago.

Here’s a full list of Bears free agents:

Unrestricted free agents

OFFENSE

QB Case Keenum
RB Travis Homer
WR Devin Duvernay
WR Olamide Zaccheaus
TE Durham Smythe
C Ryan Bates
T Braxton Jones

DEFENSE

DL Chris Williams
DL Andrew Billings
DE Dominique Robinson
DE Joe Tryon
LB D’Marco Jackson
CB Elijah Hicks
CB Nahshon Wright
CB Nick McCloud
S Jaquan Brisker
S Jaylon Jones
S Jonathan Owens
S Kevin Byard

SPECIAL TEAMS

LS Scott Daly

Restricted free agents

LB Noah Sewell
DE Daniel Hardy

Exclusive rights free agents

G Jordan McFadden
LT Theo Benedet

Bears potential contract casualties

On top of their pending free agents, the Bears could also look to release players carrying large cap hits heading into 2026. Here’s a look at potential cut candidates based on what they're set to be owed next season (via OverTheCap):

RB D’Andre Swift ($7.5 million)
TE Cole Kmet ($10 million)
LB Tremaine Edmunds ($15 million)
CB Jaylon Johnson ($16 million)

Swift has led the Bears in rushing the past two seasons, but with the emergence of rookie Kyle Monangai (169 attempts, 783 yards), Chicago might be O.K. passing the torch to a younger and cheaper running back. Same goes at tight end with 2025 first-round pick Colston Loveland leading the way with a team-high 58 receptions for 713 yards in his rookie campaign.

Bears potential trade candidates

DJ Moore, wide receiver

Williams’s costly interception in overtime against the Rams that targeted Moore would be a rough final impression of the veteran wide receiver’s career in Chicago if he’s moved, but it’s a possibility this offseason.

Moore has four seasons remaining on his four-year, $110 million contract extension he signed in July 2024. At 28, Moore still has plenty of great football ahead of him, but the Bears are not lacking any depth at wide receiver. The aforementioned Loveland alongside Rome Odunze and Luther Burden III look primed to be Williams’s top targets for years to come; perhaps striking a trade now while Moore’s stock remains high would benefit the club in the long term.