Windy City Gridiron
We look at safety to see if any core players are in the room heading into 2025
We continue in our series with our second article looking at the Chicago Bears roster, and which players should be considered building blocks for the future, and which ones should not. We looked at the running back position already, and now we pivot to the defensive side of the ball and look at the safeties.
As a reminder, we have defined a building block by the following factors: age, contract, ability, position, and projection.
Let’s take a look at the safeties.
Byard had a nice season in 2024. He did a good job helping out in the run game, and he still did a decent job in coverage. He actually had a career high in tackles, but unfortunately,y he had a career high in targeted passer rating allowed.
Byard can still play, but he’s not the elite All Pro he once was, and he will also be 32 heading into this season. Byard can be relied on to deliver a solid season this year, but in 2026, he will be 33, and unless he really winds the clock back this season, it shouldn’t be expected that Byard is back next season.
No Block.
This is a difficult one to assess. Brisker is entering year four of his rookie contract and, in theory, would be in line for an extension this summer if the Bears wanted to lock him down.
Based on his play on the field, you would expect the Bears to want to extend him. In 2024, Brisker was on pace to set career bests in multiple statistical categories, and his coverage skills were showing improvement in 2024. But a concussion in week five derailed his season and forced him to miss the remainder of the season.
Not only did Brisker miss 12 games due to a concussion in 2024, but that was his third known concussion in just three NFL seasons. Brisker has missed 16 games in his three seasons, and coming off a significant concussion issue in 2024, how much will the Bears be willing to invest in him?
There should be no expectation that the Bears extend Brisker before this season, but is there anything Brisker can do to change that during the season? I think Brisker playing at least 15 games and showing know concussion issues would be a start, but even if that does happen, would the Bears be willing to offer him more than a two-year contract with one year guaranteed? Probably not. I think Brisker will want to hit the open market and see if other teams would be willing to make a bigger investment with him.
No Block.
Mr. Simone Biles made a couple splashy plays for the Bears last season, but with Brisker missing significant time, Owens eventually lost his starting job to Elijah Hicks.
Owens is a solid special teamer and is capable...
