The NFL’s new league year will officially arrive Wednesday afternoon while the negotiating window for teams and unrestricted free agents opens Monday at 11 a.m. For the Chicago Bears, that will mark the continuation of a critical period in which general manager Ryan Poles and new coach Ben Johnson continue working to upgrade their roster.
The Bears struck twice with attention-grabbing moves in advance of free agency, making a pair of trades to acquire offensive linemen Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson from the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams, respectively. Those were two significant deals that allowed the Bears to address one of their biggest positions of need. Thuney is a four-time All-Pro who has also won four Super Bowl rings with the Chiefs and New England Patriots. Jackson spent the first four seasons of his career in Detroit with Johnson on the coaching staff.
Coming off a 5-12 season and looking to become more competitive in the NFC, the Bears have entered this roster-building cycle with plenty of needs but also plenty of resources to address them.
As the activity in free agency continues, the Tribune will be tracking and analyzing the latest developments.
Thursday
The Beare are signing veteran tight end Durham Smythe to a one-year deal, a league source told the Tribune
What this means: Smythe was released by the Miami Dolphins last month and now finds his new home at Halas Hall in a mini-reunion with Johnson. The two overlapped in Miami for one season in 2018 when Johnson was the Dolphins receivers coach and Smythe was a rookie. So once again, the Bears have checked the familiarity box with a roster addition this offseason.
The Bears entered this month needing to add talent and depth to the tight end position behind Cole Kmet. And Smythe arrives as more of a traditional in-line tight end whose greatest value is a blocker in the running game. (He also overlapped for one season with Kmet at Notre Dame in 2017.)
Smythe did enjoy a career season in 2023 as far as productivity as a receiver, recording 35 catches for 366 yards. Over seven seasons, he has 132 receptions for 1,228 yards with three touchdowns.
In advance of the new league year, the Bears have been active, most notably with this week’s trades to acquire veteran guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson. Those moves registered as the team’s first significant efforts to upgrade their offensive line, a priority both Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles have openly acknowledged.
Now the team will continue pushing to add talent and depth to the roster.
Things will be fluid when the market opens. The Bears currently have 29 players with expiring contracts, most notably receiver Keenan Allen, offensive linemen Teven Jenkins, Matt Pryor and Coleman Shelton, long snapper Patrick Scales and running back/special teams ace Travis Homer. The team’s restricted free agents include defensive tackle Chris Williams, cornerback Josh Blackwell and offensive lineman Doug Kramer.
Poles, with Johnson at his hip, has acknowledged he has “a big puzzle” to piece together on both sides of the ball. But the Bears should have the opportunity to remain as aggressive as they see fit.
“I think we can be aggressive in the way we approach this offseason,” Poles said at the NFL combine, “and get players in here who can help us take it to the next level.”
That has already happened this week and should continue through free agency.
