This coming season, Ben Johnson and the Chicago Bears are trying to do more than repeat their efforts from 2025, when they reached the playoffs for the first time since the 2020 season and won their first NFC North crown since 2018.
Of course, win or lose, the Bears will face more changes next offseason, making this team–like every other–a unique entity.
With that, here are four best-case scenarios for this particular group of Bears.
Turnover Could Be Best-Case Scenario for 2026 Bears
1) Offense: Garrett Bradbury Becomes Trade Bait
This one could have gone several ways, including quarterback Caleb Williams earning MVP on the way to winning the Super Bowl. A more immediate outcome would be for rookie second-round pick Logan Jones to make offseason trade pickup Garrett Bradbury expendable.
That could happen as soon as training camp.
It is important that Jones take the job and not the Bears’ de facto best option before they feel he is truly ready. Still, the sooner that happens, the better.
Bradbury is in imperfect replacement for Pro Bowler Drew Dalman, who retired this offseason, while Jones is a rookie. The Bears will likely need to be thoroughly convinced that Jones is the superior option before making that change.
At the same time, they also need Bradbury to play well enough that another team comes calling before the trade deadline, with the veteran on an expiring contract.
Runner-Up: Braxton Jones asserting himself as a starting left tackle.
2) Defense: Pricey Vets Become Expendable
This is the same idea as with Bradbury on offense, but on a broader scale. The Bears have several high-priced veterans (Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, Montez Sweat, and T.J. Edwards) on defense who they could be forced into difficult decisions on.
Chicago is already facing a tight salary cap situation, and Williams will be extension-eligible during the 2027 offseason.
The Bears need some of their younger players, including some rookies, to step up in 2026.
Cornerback is a pressing one, with Gordon and Johnson coming off injury-plagued seasons and under contract through at least the 2027 season. But their next three corners–Tyrique Stevenson, Terell Smith, and Josh Blackwell–are all set for free agency in 2027.
Rookies Malik Muhammad, a fourth-round pick and the best hope to replace one of the veterans in 2027, if not sooner, and KC Eziomume are the only other CBs under contract in 2027.
The Bears have invested in several linebackers, including new starter Devin Bush.
Could D’Marco Jackson ultimately replace Edwards after he filled in valiantly last season? Can either of Ruben Hyppolite II or rookie Keyshaun Elliott become Edwards’ heir apparent? It must first be seen if they can displace returning veteran Jack Sanborn on the depth chart.
At EDGE, Austin Booker appears primed to bookend Sweat, but it would be a boon if 2025 second-round pick Shemar Turner somehow showed enough to make Sweat expendable, too.
Runner-Up: Gervon Dexter Sr. becoming a Pro Bowler
3) Special Teams: Cairo Santos & Tory Taylor See Attempts Plummet
This one requires the offense to do its part. Tory Taylor ranks fourth in punts over the past two seasons, per Stathead. Only one playoff team, the Houston Texans, had their punter on the field more in that span.
That is notable after Williams told Taylor that he would not be needed much after the Bears drafted the former Iowa Hawkeye.
Taylor attempted 22 fewer points in 2025 than he did during his and Williams’ rookie season.
Another such drop in Year 2 under Johnson would have Taylor closer to the bottom of the league ranks, which is where most of the league’s playoff teams finished last season.
Cairo Santos has seen his efficiency on field goal attempts dip in each of the past two seasons, but that would not make this a best-case scenario.
It would be optimal if the Bears did not need to ponder kicking field goals at all.
Because they most certainly will face that decision, the best-case here would be that the offense can also be better when they opt to go for it on fourth downs. The Bears actually went for it on fourth down fewer times in 2025 than they did in 2024, and they were less efficient, too.
They may not want to see their attempts rise too much further, but they would certainly welcome improved efficiency in those situations.
Runner-Up: Zavion Thomas becomes too good to keep on special teams
4) Coaching Staff: Bears Lose Another OC
This one is the most long-term. Johnson is already on his second offensive coordinator in as many seasons on the job, promoting Press Taylor to the job after the Baltimore Ravens hired Declan Doyle away from the Bears this offseason.
History repeating itself would indicate that Williams performed well, and that the Bears had such a successful season, perhaps even more this time around.
Doyle is an unknown as a play-caller after his lone season as an OC with the Bears.
Taylor had an unsuccessful stint with the Jacksonville Jaguars before taking over as pass game coordinator for the Bears in 2025. Such a rapid redemption arc could require a lot of good things to happen for Taylor and, by extension, the Bears.
This could be extended to some of the Bears’ other assistants, with cornerbacks coach and defensive pass game coordinator Al Harris among them.
Taylor’s role as OC has far more significant implications, though.
