Windy City Gridiron
We are halfway through our countdown of the 10 Chicago Bears with the most to prove this season. If you’ve missed it, this is what the first half looked like:
10. Tory Taylor
9. Braxton Jones
8. Rome Odunze
7. TJ Edwards
6. Jaylon Johnson
Starting our top five is defensive tackle Gervon Dexter.
Ryan Poles and the Chicago Bears spent a second-round pick on Dexter back in 2023, and fans were mixed on the selection. Many were excited to see what the Florida Gator could do; others were concerned about how quickly he got off the ball and if that would impact him at the NFL level.
Dexter had a fairly quiet rookie season, but has had fairly nice seasons in both 2024 and 2025. Dexter has stayed largely healthy and does a decent job creating interior pressure. But he still struggles against the run when he’s at the point of attack.
By no means is Dexter a bad player. He’s a solid player. The question is, is his play strong enough to earn a second contract in Chicago?
Dexter is entering the final year of his contract, and this would be traditionally when a rookie is extended. There have been no signs out of Halas Hall that Dexter will be receiving a contract extension this summer, which means the Bears want to see more from Dexter to see if he’s worth signing to a larger sum of money for the 2027 season.
One thing that certainly plays to Dexter’s benefit is the large amount of churn the defensive line is expected to have next season. When looking at their interior defensive line. The Bears have Jordan van den Berg under contract for the next four seasons. They signed Neville Gallimore to a two-year contract this offseason, so he could still be under contract. Dexter is going to be a free agent, and Grady Jarrett is largely expected to be released before the third and final year of his contract. The rest of the interior defensive line is all on one-year deals.
It’s largely expected that the Bears will overhaul the defensive line after this season when they can get out of a handful of bad contracts, but how much overhaul will they want to do across the interior defensive line? Gallimore will most likely be back for the final year of his contract, but he also has close to no guaranteed money in 2027, and the Bears could release him if need be. But Gallimore isn’t a game-changer; he’s a rotational player.
van den Berg is an athletic freak, so the upside is there, but how much impact will the Bears expect out of a sixth-round pick? Odds are, if van den Berg sticks, he will also be a rotational player.
If the Bears keep the traditional five defensive tackles, that’s two right there. Odds are good that the Bears will spend a draft pick on a defensive tackle next year as well. But that means the Bears...
