Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles spent the last two months reconstructing the roster he inherited from predecessor Ryan Pace.
Poles has been forthright in acknowledging he is not going to fix a 2021 team that went 6-11 in one year. At some positions, he has made upgrades. At others, Poles has added temporary fillers until he has more resources to find the right players.
The Bears will get a better sense for what they have over the next month as they start organized team activities Monday at Halas Hall.
Most players already became acquainted with new coach Matt Eberflus during voluntary minicamp in mid-April or rookie minicamp May 7-9. Over the next five weeks, they will dive deeper into their work with three OTAs sessions of three days apiece and then mandatory minicamp June 14-16.
Here’s a look at the roster the Bears will field during those practices.
* Indicates 2022 draft pick
Quarterbacks (3 on roster)
Key returners: Justin Fields
Notable additions: Trevor Siemian and Nathan Peterman
Major departures: Andy Dalton, Nick Foles and Ryan Willis
Outlook: Fields’ development obviously is the chief concern at quarterback, and so the most important offseason additions were the coaches who are tasked with helping him take the next step in his second season — offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko. Their relationship seemingly has gotten off to a good start, with Getsy saying recently that Fields has accepted the challenges they’ve thrown at him and that nobody in the building works harder or cares more than Fields.
But the Bears also had moves to make to back up Fields.
Dalton signed a one-year deal with the New Orleans Saints in free agency, and the Bears released Foles after failing to find a trade partner. So the Bears went after a backup in Siemian, the 30-year-old former Northwestern quarterback who started 29 games over seven seasons with the Denver Broncos, New York Jets and Saints. Siemian, who signed a two-year deal, has thrown for 6,843 yards, 41 touchdowns and 27 interceptions with a 81.2 passer rating in his career. The Bears released Willis after rookie minicamp and signed Peterman, who has made four starts in five seasons, to a one-year deal to be the third-string quarterback.
Wide receivers (12)
Key returners: Darnell Mooney
Notable additions: Byron Pringle, Velus Jones Jr.*, Tajae Sharpe, Dante Pettis, David Moore and Equanimeous St. Brown
Also on the roster: Isaiah Coulter, Dazz Newsome, Nsimba Webster, Chris Finke and Kevin Shaa
Major departures: Allen Robinson, Marquise Goodwin, Damiere Byrd and Jakeem Grant
Outlook: Poles didn’t exactly quiet the Bears fans clamoring for more reliable targets for Fields with his offseason shopping. With Robinson leaving in free agency, the Bears lost a player who has amassed 6,409 receiving yards and 40 touchdown catches in his career. Poles didn’t get a big name to replace Robinson, instead going after a large cast of lesser-known options.
The most important replacements are Jones and Pringle, the former Kansas City Chiefs receiver who totaled 568 receiving yards and five touchdowns in 2021 and, the Bears believe, has potential for more. Jones, the Bears’ third-round draft pick out of Tennessee, had a career-high 62 catches for 807 yards and seven touchdowns as a sixth-year senior and has big value as a returner. Sharpe (1,397 yards, eight touchdowns over five seasons) and Pettis (739 yards, nine touchdowns over four seasons) were May additions to the competition.
Running backs (6)
Key returners: David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert
Notable additions: Trestan Ebner*, Darrynton Evans and Khari Blasingame
Also on the roster: De’Montre Tuggle
Major departures: Tarik Cohen and Damien Williams
Outlook: The Bears already were solid at the position with the return of David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert, who totaled 849 and 433 rushing yards in 2021, respectively.
Ebner, a sixth-round draft pick, was an interesting addition because of his abilities as a pass catcher and a returner. He had 4,542 all-purpose yards in his career at Baylor. Evans was a waiver pickup from the Tennessee Titans with little playing time over six career games because of injuries, and Blasingame is a fullback.
The release of Cohen came after he missed most of the last two seasons while dealing with personal trauma and a knee injury — ACL and MCL tears and a tibial plateau fracture, according to his essay in The Players’ Tribune — that was more serious than the Bears ever revealed publicly.
Tight ends (6)
Key returners: Cole Kmet
Notable additions: Ryan Griffin and James O’Shaughnessy
Also on the roster: Rysen John, Chase Allen and Jake Tonges
Major departures: Jimmy Graham, Jesse James, J.P. Holtz and Jesper Horsted
Outlook: The Bears certainly hope to see more growth from Kmet in his third season after he totaled 60 catches for 612 yards in 2021. The rest of the Bears tight ends group last season — Graham, James, Holtz and Horsted — combined for just 23 catches.
Griffin comes in as a 10th-year veteran who has 2,158 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns in his career. O’Shaughnessy is a Naperville North product who has 1,108 receiving yards and three touchdowns over seven seasons.
Offensive linemen (15)
Key returners: Cody Whitehair, Teven Jenkins, Larry Borom andSam Mustipher
Notable additions: Lucas Patrick, Braxton Jones*, Zachary Thomas*, Doug Kramer*, Ja’Tyre Carter*, Dakota Dozier and Julien Davenport
Also on the roster: Lachavious Simmons, Dieter Eiselen, Jean Delance and Willie Wright
Major departures: James Daniels, Jason Peters, Germain Ifedi, Elijah Wilkinson and Alex Bars
Outlook: There are several questions to be answered on the line after Poles added only one certain starter. That player is Patrick, who will take over at center after starting 28 games at guard and center over the last two seasons with the Green Bay Packers.
Whitehair will be back at left guard, but right guard and both tackle positions aren’t solidified. Jenkins and Borom very well could start at tackle in their second seasons, with Borom lining up on the left side and Jenkins on the right during voluntary minicamp. Mustipher and Dozier are options to replace Daniels at right guard.
Poles also drafted four Day 3 offensive linemen, and it will be worth watching to see if any emerge as candidates for significant playing time in their rookie seasons.
Defensive linemen (15)
Key returners: Robert Quinn, Trevis Gipson, Angelo Blackson, Mario Edwards Jr., Khyiris Tonga and Jeremiah Attaochu
Notable additions: Justin Jones, Al-Quadin Muhammad and Dominique Robinson*
Also on the roster: Carson Taylor, Auzoyah Alufohai, Micah Dew-Treadway, LaCale London, Charles Snowden and Sam Kamara
Major departures: Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman and Bilal Nichols
Outlook: It could be argued no group took a bigger hit to its talent, depth and leadership than this one after the Bears traded Mack, released Goldman and parted with Nichols and Hicks. But the group was deep to begin with, and Poles also invested in it with the additions of Jones at tackle and Muhammad and Robinson on the edge.
Making the move from outside linebacker to defensive end in Eberflus’ 4-3 scheme, Quinn returns after one of the best seasons of his career during which he set a Bears single-season record with 18 1/2 sacks. Gipson looks to make an even bigger impact in his third season after he had seven sacks in 2021. Attaochu missed most of last season because of a torn pectoral muscle.
Meanwhile, Muhammad rejoins Eberflus after a six-sack season in 2021 in Indianapolis, and Robinson comes in as a work in progress after only two years on defense in college.
On the interior, Jones was one of the Bears’ bigger free-agent acquisitions. Blackson returns after the best season of his career statistically in 2021, and Tonga and Edwards could be key rotational pieces for Eberflus, who has said he likes to use his defensive linemen in waves.
Linebackers (9)
Key returners: Roquan Smith
Notable additions: Nicholas Morrow, Matt Adams and Joe Thomas
Also on the roster: Noah Dawkins, Caleb Johnson, Jack Sanborn, Christian Albright and C.J. Avery
Major departures: Danny Trevathan, Alec Ogletree, Christian Jones and Joel Iyiegbuniwe
Outlook: Smith is the face of the Bears defense in his fifth season. The biggest question with him — along with whether he will play middle or weak-side linebacker — is whether Smith will get a contract extension done in the coming months.
Morrow is an intriguing addition to pair with Smith after the Bears parted with 32-year-old Trevathan. Morrow was on the rise with the Raiders before he missed all of 2021 with an ankle injury and is looking to get back to where he was. Adams comes in as a player familiar with Eberflus after playing under him during four seasons with the Indianapolis Colts.
Cornerbacks (12)
Key returners: Jaylon Johnson, Kindle Vildor, Duke Shelley and Thomas Graham Jr.
Notable additions: Kyler Gordon*, Tavon Young and Greg Stroman Jr.
Also on the roster: Michael Joseph, BoPete Keyes, Lamar Jackson, Allie Green IV and Jaylon Jones
Major departures: Artie Burns, Xavier Crawford and Marqui Christian
Outlook: Poles used two second-round draft picks to improve a secondary that had six of the Bears’ eight interceptions in 2021. That includes using the 39th pick on Gordon, who comes off an All-Pac-12 season at Washington to be the likely starter opposite Johnson.
Gordon also can play nickel, an important position in Eberflus’ defense, but coordinator Alan Williams said they’ll start him off focusing on playing outside corner. Poles signed a nickel option in Young, who started 24 games with four interceptions and 16 passes defended in four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. Young has a significant injury history but played in all 17 games in 2021.
Vildor, Shelley and Graham return as competition after all saw time on defense in 2021.
Safeties (7)
Key returners: Eddie Jackson and DeAndre Houston-Carson
Notable additions: Jaquan Brisker*, Dane Cruikshank and Elijah Hicks*
Also on the roster: Jon Alexander and A.J. Thomas
Notable departures: Tashaun Gipson, Deon Bush and Teez Tabor
Outlook: A significant storyline on the defense this season is whether the new staff can help Jackson rebound after what he said was one of the worst seasons of his career.
After Brisker had five interceptions, 14 pass breakups and 9 1/2 tackles for a loss in 34 games (21 starts) at Penn State, the rookie could be poised to take over the starting role that Gipson occupied the last two seasons.
Houston-Carson made the most of his opportunities in 2021, and his return ensures important veteran leadership for the group. Cruikshank is a key depth addition after he played in 44 games, with four starts, in four seasons with the Tennessee Titans.
Specialists
Key returners: K Cairo Santos, LS Patrick Scales, KR Khalil Herbert and PR Dazz Newsome
Notable additions: P Trenton Gill*, KR/PR Velus Jones Jr.*, KR/PR Trestan Ebner* and P Ryan Winslow
Also on the roster: LS Antonio Ortiz
Major departures: P Pat O’Donnell and KR/PR Jakeem Grant
Outlook: Santos is back for his third season after following up a Bears-record-breaking 2020 season by making 26 of 30 field-goal attempts and 27 of 28 extra-point attempts in 2021. The Bears let O’Donnell go in free agency and instead used their final of 11 draft picks on Gill, a punter from North Carolina State. He and Winslow, who has been around the league since 2018 and signed with the Bears in February, could compete.
The Bears lost Grant, a Pro Bowl returner in 2021, but drafted Jones and Ebner as intriguing return options.
