2025 Bears mock offseason: The Ben Johnson experience

WCG’s lead draft analyst shares his latest Bears mock offseason after they hired Ben Johnson as head coach.

The Bears enter the 2025 NFL offseason with a new head coach and a newfound sense of optimism.

Of course, Chicago fans are used to getting excited during the offseason, only for the regular season to not live up to their dreams of grandeur. But with the hire of Ben Johnson as the team’s head coach, there seems to be much more to be hopeful for than there was just a few months ago.

After hiring one of the most highly-touted head coaching candidates of the last few years, the Bears find themselves with someone on staff who is proven as one of the best offensive play-callers in the NFL. They have a significant amount of cap space to work with, as well as three picks in the top 45 selections of the 2025 NFL Draft.

You know how this all works by now. This is my latest 2025 Bears mock offseason, complete with free agent signings, draft picks, extensions, and a 53-man roster.

Initial cap space: $63,133,403

Roster cuts

• TE Gerald Everett ($5.48 million saved, $1 million in dead cap)
• OG Ryan Bates ($4 million saved, no dead cap)

These two cuts end up freeing nearly $10 million in cap space letting two players go who made little impact in 2024.

Everett has long flirted with the 400-yard mark for most of his career, but his impact on the Bears’ passing game was almost nonexistent in 2024. He caught just 8 passes for 36 yards all season, a yardage mark he topped six times in individual games with the Chargers in 2023. The Bears traded a fifth-round pick for Bates, but he played in just three games due to injury. He didn’t necessarily thrive in those games, either.

Updated cap space: $72,593,403

Re-signings

• LB Jack Sanborn — ROFR RFA tender: One year, $3.185 million
• LS Scott Daly: One year, $1.2 million
• CB Josh Blackwell: One year, $1.5 million
• CB Jaylon Jones: One year, $1.2 million
• DE Daniel Hardy — ERFA tender: One year, $1.03 million
• OL Matt Pryor: One year, $2 million
• DT Chris Williams: One year, $1.3 million
• LB Amen Ogbonebemiga: One year, $1.2 million
• WR DeAndre Carter: One year, $1.1 million

None of these extensions will cost a considerable amount of money, with Sanborn’s deal being the only one that costs more than $2 million. These are all depth additions and players who would contribute heavily on special teams.

This is more notable for the players the Bears don’t extend, most notably Teven Jenkins and Keenan Allen. Jenkins is a very good starting guard, but his injury history makes it difficult to tie up significant long-term capital into his contract. Given the ups and downs in his relationship with the current front office, it could make sense for him to look elsewhere. He’ll certainly command a...