The Chicago Bears are keeping one eye on the future this offseason-and that includes taking a flier on a player who’s been grinding behind the scenes for a shot at the 53-man roster. Defensive lineman Jamree Kromah has signed a reserve/future contract with the team, giving him another chance to prove he belongs in the NFL.
Kromah’s journey has been anything but smooth. After going undrafted in 2024, he initially landed with the Bears before a brief stint with the Patriots that same year.
He returned to Chicago in October and has remained with the team since, though he has yet to appear in a regular-season game. Now, as he enters what could be a pivotal offseason, the stakes are as high as ever.
Let’s be real: the NFL isn’t kind to fringe players. The average career spans about three years, and Kromah is approaching that threshold.
For guys like him, every practice rep, every preseason snap, every moment in the weight room-those are auditions. And with the Bears heading into a transitional phase on defense, there’s a real opportunity here… but it won’t come easy.
New defensive coordinator Dennis Allen is expected to bring a fresh look to the scheme, and that means competition across the board-especially on the edge. Chicago’s pass rush was underwhelming in 2025, finishing with just 35 sacks, tied for 22nd in the league. That’s a number the Bears know has to improve if they want to take the next step defensively.
Enter Kromah, a longshot with upside. He’ll be battling against a crowded group headlined by Montez Sweat, Austin Booker, and Dayo Odeyingbo-players who are already penciled in as key contributors. And that’s before the Bears add any new faces through the draft or free agency, which they almost certainly will.
So what does that mean for Kromah? It means 2026 is make-or-break.
He’ll need to show he can carve out a role in Allen’s system-whether that’s as a rotational edge rusher, a special teams contributor, or a versatile depth piece who can win in the trenches. The margin for error is razor thin, but the opportunity is there.
For now, Kromah is back in the building with a contract that gives him a shot. And for a player who’s been fighting uphill from the start, that’s all he can ask for. The rest will come down to whether he can turn that shot into a roster spot when the lights come on this preseason.