Veteran defensive tackle Grady Jarrett signed a three-year, $43.5 million contract with the Bears last offseason. He didn’t give Chicago much of a return on its investment.
Garrett, who had previously spent 10 seasons with the Falcons, said he’s taking good care of his body this offseason and expects to be in great shape in 2026.
“I’m 33 years old now,” Jarrett said. “It’s exciting to be feeling a lot better this year. I know I owe Chicago a better year and I’m excited to go do that.”
Last year Jarrett was a starter for the first three games of the season, but a knee injury forced him to miss the next three games, and after that he was a backup the rest of the way. He said a subpar season gave him an opportunity to reflect on what he can do better going forward.
“I got hurt pretty early in the season, tried to get through it, and had to make some adjustments,” Jarrett said. “Toward the end I started playing a lot better as I felt better, but sometimes things happen and there’s no reason for it — to me it’s like divine intervention, gave me a chance to self-reflect.”
Jarrett’s self-reflection led him to the honest conclusion that his team needs him to be better, and he expects himself to be better.
Bears Clips
The Bears made a significant change to their wide receiver room this offseason when they traded DJ Moore to the Bills and the move set up a significant change for second-year wideout Luther Burden.
Burden had 47 catches for 652 yards and two touchdowns while playing alongside Moore and Rome Odunze as a rookie, but the trade opens up an opportunity for Burden to do more and a need from the Bears for him to make the most of it. During his first press conference of the OTA period of the offseason program, head coach Ben Johnson said that the process is going well.
“I’m buying Luther Burden stock right now,” Johnson said. “Just how he’s approached his offseason. It’s been electric. That showed up yesterday. He had numerous explosive plays. I loved how in Phase 2 he was finishing every single rep that he took and that really translated over to yesterday as well. So he’s in a really good spot.”
Johnson went on to say that he thinks Burden is playing at “a different speed” than he was last year because he is “not thinking as much” on the field. The Bears would like to see that growth continue over the next few months so that it pays off with a similar leap in his on-field production.
Defensive end A.J. Epenesa’s search for a new team reportedly took him to Chicago recently.
Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune reports that Epenesa worked out for the Bears last week.
Epenesa agreed to terms with the Browns earlier this offseason, but the deal was not finalized after Epenesa failed his physical. He visited the Dolphins last month after that deal fell apart.
Epenesa played in 91 games for the Bills over the last six seasons. He had 135 tackles, 24 sacks, four interceptions, five forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries over the course of his time in Buffalo.
Montez Sweat, Austin Booker, Dayo Odeyingbo, Daniel Hardy, and Shemar Turner are the returning options at defensive end in Chicago.
Once again this offseason, the Giants are taking a look at a defensive tackle.
Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, veteran Eddie Goldman worked out for New York on Tuesday.
Goldman, 32, spent last season with the Commanders. He appeared in 13 games with six starts, recording 26 total tackles with four tackles for loss and one QB hit.
Goldman came out of retirement to play the 2024 season with the Falcons, appearing in 17 games with 10 starts. He tallied 16 total tackles with one TFL, three QB hits, and one sack that season.
A Bears second-round pick in the 2015 draft, Goldman has appeared in 111 games with 89 starts over his career for Chicago, Atlanta, and Washington. He’s recorded 14.0 sacks with 23 tackles for loss and 25 QB hits.
Since trading Dexter Lawrence to the Bengals last month, the Giants have been on the hunt for big men to fill out the interior of their defense. The club has added Shelby Harris, Leki Fotu, DJ Reader, and Zacch Pickens since April 28.
Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has shown plenty of ability to pull rabbits out of his hat over his first two seasons and he did that often enough to get the team into the divisional round of the playoffs last year.
Williams and the Bears hope to make an even deeper run this season and quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett knows how he’d like to see Williams lead the team to those heights. While the last-second wins and miraculous throws from Williams are a thrill to watch, Barrett said that his message to Williams this offseason is that we “don’t have to work as hard for our money” if they’re better about making the easy plays when they present themselves earlier in games.
“Late in some of those games, we were making some heroic plays . . . but it wasn’t necessary if we execute in the first quarter and second quarter,” Barrett said, via Jason Lieser of the Chicago Sun-Times. “We might be up two touchdowns by the time we get to the fourth quarter. We can be efficient and take what the defense is giving. You don’t necessarily have to put the cape on and make those crazy plays because you already were killing them in the first three quarters.”
The Bears talked a lot about Williams getting to a 70 percent completion rate last offseason. He finished at just over 58 percent, which leaves a lot of room to improve while setting the table for fewer hair-raising finishes this time around.
It’s good that the Pope is from Chicago.
At this point, Illinois may need divine intervention to get a stadium deal done for the Bears before the current legislative session ends on May 31.
“I’ve seen miracles happen every year,” Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said Friday regarding the possibility of the legislature passing a bill to keep the Bears from moving to Indiana, via Olivia Olander of the Chicago Tribune. “Every single year. I feel confident that there will be a bill that gets brought up in the Senate, and then hopefully they’ll pass it and send it over to the House, and that bill will be about whether or not we’re keeping them in the state of Illinois or letting them go to Indiana.”
The clock is ticking. The Bears have gotten from Indiana that which they want from Illinois. And now that the Bears have slammed the door on the notion that a new stadium in Chicago is possible, the options are simple: Arlington Heights, Illinois, or Hammond, Indiana.
The overriding question is whether Indiana is a bluff. A leverage play. A border bridge the Bears won’t cross.
If the powers-that-be in Illinois find out too late that it isn’t, the Bears may be lost not only to Chicago but also to Illinois entirely.
For now, it’s up to the Illinois legislature. Over the next eight days, the process may need a little help from the native who has shown a sudden affinity for 6-7.
The Bears are where we thought they were.
Despite a suggestion that the Bears have been dangling the possibility of building a new stadium in Chicago, the team has issued a clear statement closing the door on remaining in the city where they have played for more than 100 years.
“The Chicago Bears have exhausted every opportunity to stay in Chicago, which was our initial goal,” the team said in a statement issued on Thursday, via the Associated Press. “There is not a viable site in the city. As a result, the only sites under consideration are in Arlington Heights and Hammond.”
The new statement is stronger than the statement the team issued on Wednesday to the Chicago Tribune: “The team has been clear with the city of Chicago and state leaders there are only two viable stadium locations under consideration, Arlington Heights and Hammond, and a decision is expected between the two later this spring or early summer.”
Indiana is ready to roll. Illinois is working on a package that would help the Bears build a new stadium on property the team owns in Arlington Heights. And the Bears seem to be very intent on building in one of those two locations, and nowhere else.
Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson is not participating in the team’s voluntary offseason program.
Defensive backs coach Al Harris revealed Johnson’s absence on Thursday when Adam Hoge of CHGO Bears asked how Johnson was doing.
“We’re going to talk about the guys that’s just been out there,” Harris said, via Hoge. “To respect to Jaylon and the organization, we’ll just talk about the guys that’s been out there.”
Johnson’s absence from Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the program is not unusual, as he spends his offseason in California with his daughter. The Bears don’t begin organized team activities until next week, and Johnson is required to attend only the mandatory minicamp on June 9-11.
His absence is notable, however, given that he played only seven games last season and failed to make the Pro Bowl for the first time since 2022.
Johnson will enter the third year of a four-year, $76 million contract under the microscope, with no guaranteed money left on his deal after this season.
“I have no doubt that, fully healthy or whatnot, that we’ll get what we need to see,” Harris said. “No doubt about that at all.”
The Chicago Bears have narrowed their stadium options to two locations. Neither is Chicago.
Chicago still isn’t giving up on disrupting the duo of finalists: Arlington Heights, Illinois, and Hammond, Indiana.
Via Jeremy Gorner of the Chicago Tribune, Illinois Senator Bill Cunningham said the effort to build the stadium in Arlington Heights has experienced new resistance from some legislators who believe the team is open to staying in Chicago.
The Bears denied that contention in a statement released on Wednesday night.
“The team has been clear with the city of Chicago and state leaders there are only two viable stadium locations under consideration, Arlington Heights and Hammond, and a decision is expected between the two later this spring or early summer,” the team said.
Cunningham contends otherwise.
“But by virtue of the fact that the Bears did outreach to the city as [of] late April, that has given credence to the mayor’s claim that a lakefront site is still viable,” Cunningham said. “That has helped him to convince Chicago legislators to move slowly, to give the city a chance to better develop a new lakefront plan and to not support the Arlington Heights site.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker recently have been squabbling about the possibility of the Bears remaining in Chicago.
The stakes are high. Illinois faces a May 31 deadline to get something done. If they don’t, Indiana could end up getting the Bears. If Indiana is a real option and not simply a leverage play to get a new stadium in Illinois — in Arlington Heights or Chicago.
The Bears are signing running back Salvon Ahmed and safety Anthony Johnson Jr., according to Jordan Schultz of The Schultz Report.
Ahmed, 27, did not play last season after a hip-drop tackle seriously injured his ankle and ended his season during a training camp practice with the Colts. He was on the practice squad of the Broncos and Colts in 2024 but did not play a regular-season game.
From 2020-23 with the Dolphins, Ahmed rushed for 593 yards and five touchdowns in 38 games.
Johnson, 26, entered the NFL as a seventh-round pick of the Packers in 2023. He played for the Giants in 2024 and was on the Giants’ PUP list all of last season.
In 21 career games, Johnson has 29 tackles, an interception and four passes defensed.
