It was with a good deal of chutzpah that Chicago Bears President/CEO delivered a letter Wednesday outlining the team’s rationale for an average 10% hike in season ticket prices for 2025.
The bold increase comes on the heels of a disastrous 5-12 season that included a 10-game losing streak and the first in-season firing of a head coach in franchise history. It also followed an average 8% price increase in 2024, when the team was coming off another losing season.
But the Bears fan base is accustomed to weathering prolonged struggles and repeated rebuilding efforts, and as disappointing as much of the post-Super Bowl XX era has been, there have been few instances of Soldier Field not being filled close to capacity. Even then, the empty seats were almost all paid for.
Warren pitched the team’s draft capital — which included two top-10 picks — in last year’s letter to season ticket holders, and this year he highlighted his confidence in new coach Ben Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles laying a foundation for success.
In the sixth paragraph of the letter, Warren pledged that the Bears brain trust “will be aggressive in free agency” — and that leads us into the NFL scouting combine, which begins Monday in Indianapolis. It’s where teams and agents unofficially begin a dance that will lead up to the opening of the negotiating window on March 10 before the new league year starts two days later.
Warren declared in early December after Matt Eberflus was fired that the Bears would have the most coveted job opening in the NFL this year, and that proved prophetic when they were able to land Johnson, the former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator.
But Warren also emphatically praised Justin Fields last February in an interview with WGN-Channel 9 and said, “I’m glad he’s on the Chicago Bears,” when it was abundantly clear the team was headed in a different direction at quarterback.
So it’s hard to say if Warren was dropping bread crumbs Wednesday that will leave a trail to big free-agent additions — or if he was trying to assuage customers who the team is confident will renew their tickets. Rest assured, the Bears will be working around the clock to gauge the market and the asking prices that agents have in mind before teams can get down to business without tampering.
Here are seven thoughts, nuggets and key dates entering the combine.
1. The NFL informed teams Wednesday that the 2025 salary cap will fall between $277.5 million and $281.5 million.
Using the midpoint, the Bears are estimated to have $69 million in cap space, the sixth-most in the NFL according to overthecap.com. That’s a great starting point, but plenty of teams will have the resources to be competitive in free agency: 18 are projected to have $35 million or more.
As The Athletic’s Mike Sando posted on social media Wednesday in a general reaction to the cap news, not specific to the Bears: “Salary cap space isn’t the issue. Finding good players is the issue. Never changes.”
The Bears were loaded with cap space at this time last year. They’re in good shape moving forward, too, with the way they designed the larger contracts they have written in recent years.
2. The Bears can create more cap space if they release tight end Gerald Everett and defensive end DeMarcus Walker.
Shedding those two veterans alone would provide an additional $10.75 million.
The Bears released free safety Eddie Jackson and offensive lineman Cody Whitehair the week before the combine last year, a courtesy to long-tenured veterans to give them a head start on finding jobs elsewhere. Everett and Walker don’t have the same cachet at Halas Hall, but they are two veterans to keep a watch on.
Again, it’s not super productive to spend much time focusing on cap space because, as I’ve detailed, a lot of teams have a lot of space and the free-agent crop isn’t fabulous this year. Yes, good players who can step in and provide instant upgrades will be available, but those who routinely get carried away discussing free-agent possibilities ignore the reality that it’s a means to supplement a roster, not build one.
3. The window for teams to use the franchise or transition tag closes March 4.
Unlike last year, when the Bears used the franchise tag to buy more negotiating time with cornerback Jaylon Johnson, they don’t have a candidate to be tagged.
It is of note, however, in regard to Kansas City Chiefs Pro Bowl right guard Trey Smith. While the Chiefs are unlikely to tag Smith, it cannot be ruled out.
4. Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson are scheduled to meet with reporters Tuesday.
That should be interesting as Poles is usually as forthright as any GM can be at this time of year, when everyone is attempting to play poker. Last year at the combine, he signaled the Bears would be trading Fields if you were skilled enough to understand the messaging.
This will be the first opportunity for Johnson to share his thoughts on the roster he inherited. The coaching staff has spent the last few weeks reviewing players under contract and those set to become free agents. Johnson also can lay out his vision for the voluntary offseason program, which can begin April 7 for teams that hired new head coaches.
5. It’s a good draft for running backs, tight ends, defensive tackles and interior offensive linemen.
That aligns well with many of the Bears’ needs. Workouts for the 329 invited players begin Thursday at Lucas Oil Stadium for defensive linemen and linebackers, followed by defensive backs and tight ends on Feb. 28, quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs on March 1 and offensive linemen on March 2.
6. The Bears have 31 players set to become free agents: 21 unrestricted, five restricted and five exclusive rights.
Of the 21 pending UFAs, 10 played more than 200 snaps on offense or defense last season: center Coleman Shelton, left guard Teven Jenkins, right guard Matt Pryor, wide receiver Keenan Allen, offensive linemen Jake Curhan and Larry Borom, tight end Marcedes Lewis, defensive ends Darrell Taylor and Jacob Martin and defensive tackle Byron Cowart.
Linebacker Jack Sanborn, cornerbacks Josh Blackwell and Jaylon Jones and defensive tackle Chris Williams are restricted free agents, and that’s an interesting spot for the Bears. The RFA tender is expected to be just above $3 million, so if the Bears want to retain these players, they have to decide if they want to commit that much to a tender, explore a multiyear contract or attempt to re-sign them to a one-year deal below the tender level.
Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower likely will have a voice in the process. His unit improved over the second half of the season, and seven of the top nine players in special teams playing time are coming out of contract: defensive end Daniel Hardy, Sanborn, linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga, Blackwell, Martin, safety Tarvarius Moore and running back Travis Homer. Hardy is an exclusive rights free agent and can be retained easily.
7. The Jacksonville Jaguars reportedly will select their general manager by the end of the weekend — just in time for the combine.
That matters to the Bears as assistant GM Ian Cunningham is one of five finalists for the job, having completed a second interview Wednesday. Also in the mix are Green Bay Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan, San Francisco 49ers director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams, Los Angeles Rams director of scouting strategy James Gladstone and Jaguars interim GM Ethan Waugh.
Cunningham has been a runner-up for multiple jobs. He twice has been a finalist for the Tennessee Titans GM job and was a finalist for the Washington Commanders last year. In 2023, he turned down an offer to be the Arizona Cardinals GM.
If Cunningham leaves, the Bears would lose a senior personnel leader, but because of the Rooney Rule, they would receive a compensatory third-round draft pick both this year and in 2026.
The Bears currently have eight picks in the April 24-26 draft:
- Round 1: No. 10
- Round 2: No. 39 (from Panthers)
- Round 2: No. 41
- Round 3: No. 72
- Round 5: TBD
- Round 6: TBD (from Steelers)
- Round 7: TBD (from Browns)
- Round 7: TBD (from Bengals)
Adding a compensatory pick at the end of Round 3 would give the Bears five picks in the first three rounds, and all could be in the top 100 depending on where the comp pick landed. An extra third-round pick could be significant.
The Bears haven’t had a lot of success in that round under Poles, choosing offensive tackle Kiran Amegadjie last year, defensive tackle Zacch Pickens in 2023 and wide receiver Velus Jones in 2022. But it’s not like they had a lot of extra-base hits in Round 3 before Poles arrived.
Running back David Montgomery was a third-round choice in 2019, and the team had no third-rounder in 2021, 2020, 2018, 2017, 2013 and 2005. Montgomery was very productive for the Bears and has been even better since signing with the Lions as a free agent.
Before you get to wide receiver Bernard Berrian (picked in the third round in 2004) and seven-time Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs (2003), you have to sift through players such as defensive tackle Jonathan Bullard (2016), center Hroniss Grasu (2015), defensive tackle Will Sutton (2014), safeties Brandon Hardin (2012), Chris Conte (2011) and Major Wright (2010), defensive tackle Jarron Gilbert (2009), wide receivers Juaquin Iglesias (2009) and Earl Bennett (2008), defensive tackle Marcus Harrison (2008), running back Garrett Wolfe (2007), linebacker Michael Okwo (2007) and defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek (2006).
A handful of those players were regular starters for a period, such as Conte, Wright, Bennett and Berrian, but Briggs is the only home run of the bunch and he has been retired since 2014.
In other words, a pair of extra third-round picks would be great, but the Bears have struggled for a long time in that round.
