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  1. Chicago Bears Depth Chart 2026 (Fantasy Football Relevant)
  2. Chicago Bears Free Agency 2026
  3. Bears Quarterback Depth Chart
  4. Bears Running Back Depth Chart
  5. Bears Wide Receiver Depth Chart
  6. Bears Tight End Depth Chart
  7. Dynasty Fantasy Football Rankings

Bringing in a first-time head coach is scary. No doubt about it. Some guys, even if great coordinators, may not be great leaders. Josh McDaniels, for instance, has proven to be a great offensive coordinator who did not work out in his first two stints as head coach. So the hiring of Ben Johnson had some risks attached.

That said, his first season as head coach showed promising results. He came in, won the division, then won a playoff game against the rival Green Bay Packers. That’s how you win over Bears fans in Year One. But now the bar it set high for Year Two and beyond as the NFL really only measures you in how close you can get to winning it all.

We can also expect more turnover in Year Two as Ben Johnson and GM Ryan Poles team up to build this thing their way. We’ll look at the contracts, the depth chart, and the salary cap here to predict what might happen. If there is a fantasy football spin, we’ll mention that as well. If you want to see where we rank the Bears' weapons, become a Fantasy Alarm Member today to access our full Dynasty Fantasy Football Rankings along with our buy, hold, or sell recommendations! 

*The salary cap numbers referenced in this article come courtesy of our friends over at Spotrac.com*

 

 

 

Chicago Bears Depth Chart 2026 (Fantasy Football Relevant)

QB

Caleb Williams

Tyson Bagent

Case Keenum

  

RB

D'Andre Swift

Kyle Monangai

Roschon Johnson

Travis Homer

Deion Hankins

WR

DJ Moore

Olamide Zaccheaus

   

WR

Rome Odunze

Devin Duvernay

   

WR

Luther Burden

Jahdae Walker

   

TE

Colston Loveland

Cole Kmet

Durham Smythe

  


 

KEY

  • White = free agent
  • Green = role is safe
  • Yellow =  role in flux
  • Orange = likely a depth piece
  • Red = roster spot not guaranteed

Chicago Bears Free Agency 2026

  • CURRENT PROJECTED 2026 SALARIES: $317
  • CURRENT ESTIMATED 2026 CAP SPACE: -$9M

Free Agent Types

Unrestricted free agent: Any player with four or more accrued seasons whose contract has expired. They are free to negotiate with any team.

Restricted free agent: A player with three accrued seasons and an expired contract. The CBA allowed for NFL teams to tender these players to one-year qualifying offers to retain them. Another team can sign them, but would need to provide the tendering team with compensation. In layman’s terms, if a new team signs a player, the current team can match it or they receive the corresponding pick from the new team. These are the projected RFA tender levels per OverTheCap.com:

  • 1st Round - $7,893,000
  • 2nd Round - $5,658,000
  • Right of First Refusal - $3,453,000

Exclusive rights free agent: Any player with fewer than three accrued seasons and an expired contract. If his original team offers him a one-year contract at the league minimum, the player cannot negotiate with other teams. If the team wants the player back, these contracts are a no-brainer, as the player either needs to play on the contract or sit out. 

 

 

 

Bears Quarterback Depth Chart

Caleb Williams

In his rookie year, Caleb Williams flashed the raw talent with his cannon arm. He also demonstrated a willingness to not only leave the pocket but keep his eyes downfield and look for big plays. What he lacked was some of the patience and the polish of veteran QBs - especially when it comes to touch passes. At times, that cannon arm led to both overthrows and delivering balls that were generally difficult to catch. That had us at least mildly concerned.

Well, in year two, he put those concerns to rest for the most part. Under the tutelage of Ben Johnson and company, he realized that not every pass needs to be a laser. And he became a far more desirable asset for us in fantasy football. You might be shocked to see how high we have him in our dynasty rankings.

Tyson Bagent

The Bears like Tyson Bagent, and so do the fans. That’s why they signed him to a $10 million extension through 2027. But there have been some rumblings lately that other teams, like the Arizona Cardinals, might be interested in giving Bagent a legit shot at starting. If they are willing to offer a meaningful pick, the Bears might consider cashing out on a guy who would only ever play if Caleb Williams got hurt. The trade potential is the only reason he’s red on the chart.

Case Keenum

If the Bears do trade Bagent, they could simply bring back free agent QB Case Keenum. He’s a veteran who can help Williams develop, plus he’s a servicable starter in a pinch. 

  • Reserves/Futures: NA

BEARS QB FREE AGENCY TAKE: Right now, the Bears are set at quarterback through 2027. If they were to move Tyson Bagent, they have a pretty reasonable option hovering around the team in Case Keenum. Plus, they already have their locked-in starter. So it’s not really worth speculating on free agent options at this time.

  • POSSIBLE FREE AGENT OPTIONS: N/A

Bears Running Back Depth Chart

D'Andre Swift

D’Andre Swift started very slow in 2024. But he finished with respectable numbers despite the Bears being in fairly rough shape. In 2025, in a more positive season, he finished with the 12th most rushing yards of any back.

If the Bears were in a more enviable situation, Swift would be a luxury they would gladly keep. And they still might. But it’s hard not to recognize that they need to free up cap space and that they can release Swift with nearly $7.5M in savings and around only $1.3M in dead cap. That decision needs to be made in less than a month, as he has a roster bonus that hits on March 15th. 

Given the investment the Bears made in the offensive line, including Protector of the Year Joe Thuney, it would likely be best for his fantasy football value if he were to remain a Chicago Bear.

Kyle Monangai

The player who would benefit most from the departure of D’Andre Swift would be Kyle Monangai. Not only did he carve out a role, but he was actually pushing a 50/50 snap split towards the end of the season with D’Andre Swift. He skews more towards being a bruiser back, but even if the Bears were to bring in a pass-catching complement, he could end up being the starter in an offense we like.

Roschon Johnson

Any time a player is a healthy scratch during the season, you know their roster spot is in danger. That’s especially true if they are a veteran who is passed over by a rookie. Since they can release him with $1.2M in savings with less than $200K in dead cap, I’d be shocked if he were back in 2026.

Travis Homer

You might say it’s easy to move on from Travis Homer as an unrestricted free agent here but he quietly contributed on multiple special teams units - that’s his path to returning in 2026. 

Deion Hankins

We don’t know for sure whether Hankins would have made the team or not, as he was placed on season-ending IR during the pre-season. We do know that, as an undrafted free agent, he can be released without any dead cap. 

BEARS RB FREE AGENCY TAKE: The most interesting timeline would see the Bears not only releasing Roschon Johnson but also D’Andre Swift. From there, they’d have the bruiser in Kyle Monangai and would look to add some help in the pass-catching department. That would give them their version of the two back set up Ben Johnson liked in Detroit.

Finding their version of Jahmyr Gibbs might have to come through the draft, though, as they don’t have the cap space right now to go after someone like Breece Hall. If they could afford to spend money at RB, they’d probably just stick with Swift. Even someone like Kenneth Gainwell might be too pricey, but here are the names that could complement Monangai without breaking the bank.

 

 

 

Bears Wide Receiver Depth Chart

DJ Moore

Last summer, DJ Moore told us that he didn’t expect as many targets as he’s gotten in past years. It seems he got even fewer than even he was expecting, as he expressed his displeasure with his lack of targets after a game against the Chargers. Ever since the new regime came in and added multiple new pass-catchers like Luther Burden and Colston Loveland, it’s felt like the writing has been on the wall for Moore’s departure.

That said, it’s not quite that simple. Releasing him offers very little cap relief, even as a post-June 1 designation. A trade makes the most sense as they’d save $16.5M with $12M in dead cap - that move alone would put the Bears back under the cap. There is no shortage of trade rumors for Moore, but he’d likely be the top WR right from the rip on a number of teams like the Bills, Patriots, Raiders, 

Rome Odunze

Rome Odunze is one of the more interesting players to discuss for fantasy football. When healthy, he had a full-time role in one of the most promising offenses in football. He wasn’t super efficient with it, but they had a lot of weapons, and their young quarterback is still figuring things out. Asking folks their thoughts on Odunze is an interesting litmus test.

Those who don’t believe will point at his big opportunity and his paltry 48.9% catch rate this year. That he wasn’t on pace for 1,000 yards. The believers will tell you to keep the faith that he can grow into his role and deliver big upside. His 90 targets in only 12 games are a great pace and, soon enough, the team will jetison weapons to feature him. Personally, I skew more towards the camp that is willing to hold or even buy Odunze to see what those days might look like.

Luther Burden

One guy I’m a little more gung-ho on buying is Luther Burden. It’s easy to forget that guys like CeeDee Lamb, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Chris Godwin were all part-time players as rookies. Godwin actually remained a part-time guy until Year 3, when he finished as the WR2 in all of fantasy. In fact, by year three, all three of the aforementioned WRs had top-five fantasy seasons. 

Now, I’m not saying that Luther Burden is guaranteed to have a top-five fantasy season at some point. But these are the kinds of guys we like to target in dynasty. There are some guys like Josh Downs who get stuck in the slot. But Downs is 5”9” 171 pounds vs. Luther Burden, who is 6’0” 210 (JSN is 6’0” 197, for example). We have seen Burden flash in a limited role as a rookie, and if he can capture a full-time role in this scheme with this QB, there is no limit to the upside. And the floor actually already looks pretty good, too. We really just need DJ Moore gone, whenever that may be.

Olamide Zaccheaus

Zacchaeus is the kind of journeyman wide receiver that NFL coaches like and fantasy football players hate. He’s a great “next man up” as he can fill in for any role. He’s a willing blocker in the run game. But he doesn’t do any one thing particularly great. So he’s not really a fantasy football asset. He’s an unrestricted free agent, and we would not be surprised to see him back, but selfishly for fantasy football, we’d like to see him move along and stop taking up so many important snaps.

Jahdae Walker

Injuries saw Walker get elevated to the active roster, where he actually managed to find paydirt a couple of times (and hit some great TD celebrations as well). He’s still on the fringe of the roster as an undrafted guy, but if push came to shove, I think they’d find ways to retain him. He can also contribute on special teams. 

Devin Duvernay

Duvernay returned every punt for the Bears and most of the kicks. In fact, he participates in kick coverage and other special teams as well. He’s an unrestricted free agent and, if he’s not back, they absolutely need someone for that role.

BEARS WR FREE AGENCY TAKE: As it stands, the Bears don’t really need to do anything at wide receiver as they are pretty loaded up. If they trade DJ Moore, the assumption is that they want Luther Burden to play more, so you’d expect them to be shopping in the WR3 range, not WR1.

That said, Devin Duvernay is an unrestricted free agent, and he returned virtually every punt/kick. If he’s gone, they’ll need some help there. Here are the options, but keep in mind that you can also have RBs or defensive players return kicks, too. Luther Burden returned a few as well. It’s worth mentioning that Khalif Raymond is a free agent, and he has experience with Ben Johnson.

 

 

 

Bears Tight End Depth Chart

Colston Loveland

It’s rare for tight ends to get double-digit targets in a game. So it’s obviously incredibly rare for them to have four straight, including two playoff games, like Loveland did this year. And to do that as a rookie on a team loaded with weapons is special. As you can imagine, we have Loveland ranked pretty high in our Top 10 Dynasty Tight Ends article. And things could get even better as the new regime moves on from the old pieces.

Colt Kmet

Cole Kmet could be one of those pieces. Loveland proved fairly quickly that he is better in the pass game. And Kmet is a bit expensive to be an inline blocking tight end. They’ll need someone to operate in that capacity, but Kmet can be released with $8.4M in savings and only $3.2M in dead cap. If it happens, it will happen within the next couple of weeks, as he has a $1M roster bonus due on March 15th. 

Durham Smythe

Durham Smythe served as the pure blocking tight end who was basically an extra offensive lineman. If the Bears were to use more 3 WR sets, it’s not crazy to picture him as the TE2 behind Loveland. They’d need to bring him back, though, as he’s an unrestricted free agent. He also plays a ton of special teams, which always helps in that consideration.

BEARS TE FREE AGENCY TAKE: If the Bears do release Cole Kmet, they might want to add both blocking depth and some sort of pure pass-catching TE in the event that Colston Loveland went down. They could just use guys like Durham Smythe and Stephen Carlson for blocking, but here are some cheap options - some of which are familiar with Ben Johnson’s scheme, like Anthony Firkser and Shane Zylstra. 

It's also interesting to note that they brought in Will Lawing of Boston College to be an "offensive analyst". Lawing has made multiple stops in the NFL already and is known as a bit of a tight end guru of sorts. His arrival and analysis could certainly impact their decisions in the tight end room.

Dynasty Fantasy Football Rankings

Become a Fantasy Alarm Member today to access our full Dynasty Fantasy Football Rankings along with our buy, hold, or sell recommendations!