Coming out of an electric 2025 season, the Chicago Bears had a clear offseason fork in the road. They could push chips in and chase even more immediate upside, or they could stay measured and lean into cheaper bets.
General manager Ryan Poles mostly chose the second lane. He didn’t swing hard in free agency, and he also watched some of his better players walk. The result has been a mixed bag, but the bargain-bin approach has worked more often than not.
One of the smartest additions so far has been Kalif Raymond. Ben Johnson has a habit of finding a veteran receiver and giving him a meaningful job in the offense, and Raymond is filling that same kind of role this season after Olamide Zaccheaus did it last year.
Raymond currently leads all Bears receivers in catches. That probably won’t last all year once Luther Burden III, Rome Odunze and Colston Loveland really get rolling, but for now Raymond has been exactly what Chicago needed for its rotating cast of quarterbacks: steady and dependable.
Another offseason move that already looks sharp came in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, where the Bears grabbed Dillon Thieneman. Safety was a real need after Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker departed in free agency, and Chicago turned to Thieneman and Coby Bryant to help fill the gap.
Bryant has been out with a knee injury, but Thieneman has wasted no time becoming a starting-caliber player. He’s already posted 37 tackles, an interception and four pass deflections, and he’s been a big part of why the Bears have been better than expected on defense.
Kentavius Street also deserves credit for turning a low-cost chance into real value. Before the season, Dennis Allen said Street had been the most productive defensive tackle in Bears training camp.
That sounded like routine preseason praise at the time, especially for a veteran on a cheap deal. But Allen’s read has held up.
Street has been in the starting lineup at defensive tackle since Week 1, and while the production hasn’t jumped off the page, Chicago’s interior line would be in serious trouble without him.
Not every move has worked out, though. Neville Gallimore has been the clear miss among the Bears’ offseason gambles.
His role and price tag make the swing look even rougher, since he’s making more than triple what Street is. The run defense numbers are ugly, too: among 148 interior defensive linemen with at least 50 total snaps this year, Gallimore ranks 127th in run stop rate.
Right now, the $10 million Chicago committed to Gallimore looks like money that could have gone almost anywhere else.
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