The 2025 offseason is upon us, but we’re in a minor lull following the Super Bowl and the NFL combine, the league’s next tentpole event.

That provides opportunity to set the stage for what’s to come, including all the moves required for the Bears to be competitive within the NFC North and across the league.

RELATED CONTENT:

• NFL mock draft roundup: Bears get Myles Garrett for No. 10 overall (and more)
• Bears 2025 offseason primer: Salary Cap, NFL draft picks, key dates and more
• Bair Mail: On Keenan Allen, Braxton Jones and NFL draft depth
• Dennis Allen describes what his Bears defense will look like

We’ll examine that up close in our State of the Bears series, breaking this franchise down to a granular level in terms of weaknesses and strengths, plus what the team has available to do something about it.

The first installment will look solely at the team’s biggest needs heading into the 2025 offseason, with focus on possible solutions later in the series.

Bears fans will be happy to know the most pressing need of all has already been filled. Ben Johnson’s hiring sure seems to satisfy the coaching issue that has plagued the Bears in recent seasons, especially during a 2024 season where Matt Eberflus had a hand in several losses.

Johnson’s as yet unproven as a head coach, though his offensive credentials are top notch and his staff is experienced and super talented.

There’s plenty of glaring weaknesses, though, even beyond what everyone thinks about first:

Offensive line (interior, especially)

The Bears offensive line struggled overall, but the interior line was a team weakness in 2024. Left guard Teven Jenkins is a real talent, but he struggled to finish games or play in them at all. Center Coleman Shelton didn’t help rookie quarterback Caleb Williams enough setting up protections and was physically overmatched at times in the middle. Right guard was a mess early on, with Ryan Poles’ swing-and-miss on Nate Davis. Matt Pyror filled in admirably after assuming the starting role after the Davis cut and stayed there due to Ryan Bates’ injury issues. All three starters are headed for unrestricted free agency and it’s possible the Bears don’t retain any of them. Pryor could be a depth piece and it’s possible Shelton returns due to a lackluster free-agent class at center outside Ryan Kelly.

There’s also a real depth issue at tackle, where Kiran Amegadjie and Larry Borom struggled mightily as fill-ins.

While many of Caleb Williams’ 68 sacks fall on him, the Bears offensive line finished No. 21 in pass-blocking efficiency, per PFF, and were assigned with 37 sacks. Williams must be better – Johnson should help him with that – but the offensive line needs improvement through free agency and the draft.

Edge rusher

An argument could be made for this as the top need. That’s how badly the Bears need a threat opposite Montez Sweat. Darrell Taylor, Jacob Martin and DeMarcus Walker manned that spot, though they also spelled Sweat. There was some production there, but not enough.

The Bears traded for Sweat in 2023 and signed him to a long-term contract, believing he can maintain elite production. He had just 5.5 sacks dealing with added attention and injury, while playing just 61.1 percent of Bears defensive snaps. Providing a real threat off the opposite edge will help the defensive line overall, which wasn’t good enough making game-changing plays.

The team’s overall pass-rush percentage was solid generating pressure but not good enough getting home. That will be essential if the Bears are to return to previous form in terms of takeaways and increasing their standing in sacks. They don’t just need one, honestly. Depth is required to bring pressure in waves, and that’s something the Bears don’t have at this time.

Running back

Ben Johnson gets credit for his wow factor and offensive creativity in trick plays, but the running game is his bedrock. The Lions invested heavily in the offensive line (see above) and at running back to find the perfect combination of speed, elusiveness and power to generate consistent gains on the ground.

It seems unlikely the Bears have proper fits for such an attack. Addressing the line will be key, but running back is of some importance.

The Bears have D’Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson offering a lite version of the power and elusiveness combo that worked so well in Detroit. But Swift was a Lion during Johnson’s first year as offensive coordinator and was traded after Jahmyr Gibbs was drafted the next offseason. Swift had just 99 carries in 14 games that season as a backup to Jamaal Williams. Swift can produce and is a home run threat, but his yards per carry plummeted in the season’s second half. He also has a contract that doesn’t provide benefits to releasing him, but a draft pick with the skill sets Johnson likes could be beneficial to the run game overall.

Johnson has a solid frame and can run but was primarily a short-yardage back. The Bears could look to upgrade here to a more dynamic running back, like Gibbs or Bijan Robinson, that has been sought in recent seasons through the draft.

Receiver

Some might balk at this, but Keenan Allen’s set for free agency. So is DeAndre Carter and even Collin Johnson. So, right now, the position group consists of DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Tyler Scott and essentially no one else.

They’ve got to make an add here, either by re-signing Allen – there’s a case for that – or someone cheaper on the open market or with a Day 3 pick. The Bears could use a true burner to help create space for others and explosive playmaking, but they’ll need another talent in here to round out the group.

Defensive tackle

This position’s at the bottom of the list for a reason. Chicago runs pretty hot when Andrew Billings and Gervon Dexter are working together, but the defensive line got a lot worse when Billings got hurt. Johnson even made reference to Billings in his introductory press conference, so some injury protection would be helpful on the inside. A massive human, gap filler and run stopper would be ideal, both to spell Billings and develop in case that individual needs to assume a larger role.

Submit your Bears questions and comments below for inclusion in the next Wednesday mailbag. 👇