Da Bears Build Up the Trenches

Winning the offseason doesn’t mean a thing, as Bears fans well know, but this offseason feels like a home run. It started with the hiring of Ben Johnson as head coach and now we’re starting to see the influence he brings. For the first time in years, it feels like the Bears have a clear vision of how they want to build this team into a contender.

The Bears needed to improve their offensive line. Ben Johnson knew it. Ryan Poles knew it. Caleb Williams knew it. The fan base knew it. Hell, the entire world knew it. How they went about it, though, speaks volumes about the change in vision.

The Bears attacked the problem aggressively, but wisely. They didn’t just throw insane money at the top free agents, they got creative.

They traded a sixth round pick to Los Angeles for Jonah Jackson. Jackson had a down year in 2024, but he was a Pro Bowler in Detroit for Ben Johnson. On its own, the trade for Jackson was a meh move, but then they made another trade.

A day after acquiring Jackson, the Bears sent a 2026 fourth round pick to Kansas City for All-Pro guard, Joe Thuney. Thuney is a clear upgrade from any guard the Bears employed in 2024. His addition suddenly made Jackson look like an upgrade as well.

The Bears finished the complete overhaul of their interior offensive line by signing the top center on the open market, former Falcon Drew Dalman. Dalman is a massive upgrade at center, where the Bears have employed a long line of mediocrity for the last decade.

There’s still work to do. Depth pieces to be added, a possible upgrade at left tackle, but the draft is still to come and the Bears hold three picks in the top 45 and four in the top 75. The Bears remade their biggest weakness, however, and they did it economically, which allowed them to address other areas of need.

Once they had the interior offensive line settled, they shifted focus to the defensive side of the trenches. Another well known fact was that the Bears needed another pass rusher to free Montez Sweat from double teams.

Even though the Bears had the cap space and the resources to trade for a high end pass rusher, like Trey Hendrickson, I knew they wouldn’t allocate their resources that way.

I bought into the smoke of the rumors of the Return of the Mack, Khalil Mack, who ultimately did return to the Los Angeles Chargers. I didn’t think they’d be willing to go high enough to land the widely considered top edge rusher on the market, Josh Sweat, who eventually signed with Arizona.

I figured they’d target a younger player, who had shown flashes but hadn’t quite lived up to his potential, yet. I figured it to be Chase Young, because of his connection to new defensive coordinator, Dennis Allen.

Instead, the Bears chose former Colt, Dayo Odeyingbo. Odeyingbo was on my peripheral radar, but was still a mild surprise. He meets Dennis Allen’s preferred physical profile for an edge rusher and he’s shown flashes of being a disruptive pass rusher. I still think the Bears will add another edge in the draft.

The Bears weren’t done, though. Hours after the Falcons released Grady Jarrett, the Bears signed him to a three year deal. Jarrett is on the wrong side of thirty, but still a disruptive and at times dominant force on the interior defensive line.

In less than a week, the Bears vastly improved on both sides of the line of scrimmage. They still have needs, a third receiver, a veteran backup quarterback, tight end and offensive line depth and perhaps a safety, but it was an encouraging start to the Ben Johnson era.

Quarterback Carousel Spins and Its Not Finished Yet

The carousel got off to a false start when the Rams gave Matthew Stafford permission to explore a trade. They ultimately reconciled and realized they were better off together. The wheels really started spinning when the Seahawks surprisingly traded Geno Smith to the Las Vegas Raiders.

I love the deal for the Raiders, and for Smith who reunites with head coach, Pete Carroll.

The Seattle Seahawks quickly filled their quarterback void by signing former Viking, Sam Darnold. This move was inevitable once they traded Smith. Darnold was the top quarterback on the open market, but I don’t love the move for Seattle. Darnold is younger and cheaper than Smith, but he’s really just a one year wonder. I think the Seahawks are taking the kind of gamble that costs general managers and head coaches their jobs.

The Steelers apparently wanted Justin Fields back, but in hindsight, I don’t think that was ever going to happen. Being benched for Russell Wilson, after a 4-2 start and then watching the Steelers stick with Wilson as the offense sputtered down the stretch probably sealed Fields’ exit from the Steel City.

Pittsburgh’s loss is the New York Jets gain. I’m a Justin Fields fan and I love this move for him and the Jets. Fields has his flaws, but he deserves to be a starting quarterback in this league, on an offense built around his strengths. The Jets will give that to him, and this time next year I might be writing about the Jets giving him a big time extension.

The Indianapolis Colts brought in former Vikings backup and Giants starting quarterback, Daniel Jones, as competition for third year pro, Anthony Richardson. Color me unimpressed. Look, we know what Daniel Jones is and what he isn’t. If Richardson wins the job, it doesn’t exactly mean he’s ready to be the franchise quarterback the Colts drafted him to be. If Jones wins the job, the Colts will be looking for their next franchise quarterback next offseason.

The Eagles traded Kenny Pickett to the Cleveland Browns, where he’s nominally the starter, for now. Pickett is just a placeholder. Is it until Deshaun Watson returns from his torn Achilles, which likely won’t be until 2026, or until a rookie is ready to take the reins? Watson has been terrible for the Browns, he was quite simply the worst starting quarterback in the NFL last season before his injury. Expecting anything from him moving forward is more foolish than the trade to acquire him and the contract they gave him. Time to cut their losses.

I believe the Browns will take a quarterback in the draft. Perhaps with the second overall pick, but they also have the first pick of the second round, where they could also land one.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants still need a starting quarterback, and the Tennessee Titans probably do, as well. I think the Steelers and Giants are waiting on Aaron Rodgers. The Steelers fall back option is bringing back Russell Wilson, while the Giants will either look to the draft or explore a trade for the Falcons’ Kirk Cousins.

The Titans hold the number one pick and the number 35 pick, they can easily target a quarterback with those picks. I also think they could be a low key contender to trade for Cousins.

The Washington Commanders Are Going For It

Hey, Jerry Jones, this is what “All In” looks like. The Washington Commanders have a dynamic franchise quarterback on a rookie deal, Jayden Daniels, coming off a run to the NFC Championship Game. This is the perfect time to spend a bit wildly and make bold moves to get to the Super Bowl.

They started early, acquiring Deebo Samuel from San Francisco two weeks ago. Samuel isn’t the same caliber player he was in his prime, but he can still be a valuable weapon in this offense.

The Commanders then re-signed some key veterans on both sides of the ball, linebacker Bobby Wagner and tight end Zach Ertz. Both took rather team friendly deals to run it back.

Releasing Jonathan Allen and replacing him with Javon Kinlaw was questionable, but probably freed up enough cap space for the Commanders to make their big move.

Laremy Tunsil may be the best left tackle in the NFL, at the very least he’s in the conversation. His addition vastly improves the Commanders offensive line. He makes their offense better and he makes the team better. An absolutely huge addition to a team with Super Bowl aspirations.

Receiver Market is Quiet

Sure, there were a couple noteworthy trades, like the previously mentioned Deebo Samuel trade to Washington and the Pittsburgh Steelers acquisition of DK Metcalf from Seattle.

The Steelers have been searching for an alpha receiver since last offseason, and they landed one in Metcalf. Whoever winds up as the Steelers quarterback should love throwing to Metcalf and George Pickens.

Davante Adams was personally recruited to the Los Angeles Rams by head coach, Sean McVay as a replacement and upgrade for Cooper Kupp.

DeAndre Hopkins signed with the Baltimore Ravens for a minimal deal, as it appears he continues to seek a Super Bowl ring.

Chris Godwin left a considerable amount of money on the table to return to the only NFL home he’s ever known, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Beyond that, there’s been nothing truly noteworthy. Big names, such as Stefon Diggs, Keenan Allen, Amari Cooper and Tyler Lockett are still on the board. Cooper Kupp is poised to join that group as it appears the Rams will release him if a last minute trade doesn’t materialize.

I can see the Seattle Seahawks as a possible landing spot for Diggs or Allen. The Dallas Cowboys could be in play for Diggs, while the Los Angeles Chargers or Arizona Cardinals could make sense for Allen.

A return to the Buffalo Bills would make sense for Cooper, while a reunion with Pete Carroll and Geno Smith with the Las Vegas Raiders seems inevitable for Lockett.

Kupp is not the same player he was in his prime, but he could thrive in a Julian Edelman type role with the New England Patriots.

Have Cap Space Will Spend It

The New England Patriots had the most cap space available in the NFL and they spent like it, mostly on the defensive side, and I don’t think they’re done yet.

The Patriots won the bidding war for the biggest fish in the free agent pond, former Eagle Milton Williams. They also reunited former Titans edge rusher, Harold Landry, with head coach Mike Vrabel while also luring linebacker, Robert Spillane away from the Raiders and cornerback, Carlton Davis, from the Lions.

On the offensive side, they brought in former Jets tackle, Morgan Moses and former Bills receiver and touchdown machine, Mack Hollins.

Minnesota Aims to Take the North

Once the Minnesota Vikings lost Sam Darnold to free agency, I guess they decided to put the best team money could buy on the field for what is essentially a rookie quarterback in second year man, JJ McCarthy.

Re-signing Aaron Jones was a no brainer. He’s the modern day Frank Gore. Ageless. The do it all back might actually be getting better, in fact.

Re-signing cornerback Byron Murphy was also an easy decision. Keeping your best cover man in a division with some lethal aerial attacks, was a must.

After that, the Vikings started shopping. They landed former Colts center, Ryan Kelly on a reasonable deal. Later, the brought in his former Colts teammate, guard Will Fries, on a not so reasonable deal. Kelly and Fries will make the Vikings offensive line better, but they may come to regret the Fries contract.

The Vikings also built up the defensive side of the line of scrimmage, signing former Commanders Pro Bowl defensive tackle, Jonathan Allen and former 49er Javon Hargrave. The already formidable Vikings defense got even more stout, especially if Hargrave has anything left in the tank.

What the Hell Are They Doing?

The offensive line was a problem for the Houston Texans in 2024, how they chose to address it is head scratching.

They traded away their best offensive lineman, and one of the best tackles in the NFL, Laremy Tunsil, and also shipped out guard, Kenyon Greene for safety, CJ Gardner-Johnson. That second move is more understandable, given how disappointing Green has been. The Tunsil trade, however, makes no sense.

The Texans, thus far, have only brought in guard Laken Tomlinson, a meh move, at best.

There are still some decent offensive lineman on the market, and there’s the draft at the end of April, but so far, the Texans have actually weakened their biggest weakness.

The Indianapolis Colts said they wanted to bring in competition to push third year quarterback, Anthony Richardson. They settled on former Viking and Giant, Daniel Jones.

I understand that Jones has a ton of starting experience. I know he had that one pretty good year, but seriously, we know what Daniel Jones is and what he isn’t. I wrote about this earlier, and I’ll reiterate, Jones does not help the Colts one bit, unless he gets them to pull the plug on Richardson one year earlier.

As far as I’m concerned, the Colts will be in search of their franchise quarterback next year at this time. Daniel Jones all but ensures that.

The Tennessee Titans demonstrated why it’s not a good idea to go fishing in the free agent left tackle pond, when they threw 80 million at former Steeler, Dan Moore Jr, essentially because he was the best offensive tackle on the market.

Moore is a fine, average left tackle, but the Titans are paying him more than the Ravens or Rams paid to retain Ronnie Stanley and Alaric Jackson, respectively. Both Stanley and Jackson are superior players.

The Kansas City Chiefs are another team with offensive line issues that have addressed the need in a questionable fashion.

Retaining guard Trey Smith was understandable, but because of their cap situation, it forced them to trade away the better guard, All Pro Joe Thuney. Still, I can’t fault the Chiefs. Smith is younger and ascending, he’s just entering his prime, while Thuney is older and only has one year left on his contract.

Where I will find fault is giving starter money to a left tackle that’s only started nine games in three years. Former 49er, Jaylon Moore doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that the Chiefs have solved their issues on Patrick Mahomes’ blindside.

General Manager, Brett Veach, and Head Coach, Andy Reid, have a proven track record of success, so I guess we should trust them on this.

Speaking of General Managers we should trust, I have to think that Philadelphia Eagles GM has something cooking. Since winning the Super Bowl, the Eagles have lost key defensive pieces in Milton Williams and Josh Sweat to free agency. They released starting cornerback Darius Slay as well as backup James Bradberry. They trade away safety CJ Gardner-Johnson.

They also seem prepared to lose starting guard, Mekhi Becton.

All the Eagles have done is re-sign linebacker, Zack Baun and add a third string quarterback, Dorian Thompson-Robinson and another reclamation project for the offensive line, Kenyon Green.

I think the Eagles are clearing cap space for a splash move and my instincts say it could be a trade for Bengals edge rusher, Trey Hendrickson.

Former 49er Aaron Banks has been a slightly better than league average guard, but the Green Bay Packers are paying him like a Pro Bowler. On a positive note, it probably drove up the price the rival Vikings had to pay for Will Fries.

The San Francisco 49ers seem to be heading for a full rebuild. They traded wide receiver, Deebo Samuel, let starting guard, Aaron Banks and cornerback, Charvarius Ward, walk in free agency.

They released fullback Kyle Juszczyk, defensive tackle Javon Hargrave and edge rusher, Leonard Floyd.

And they’ve brought in no one if significance.

All of this, it seems, is preparation for the imminent extension of quarterback Brock Purdy. If I’m the Niners brass, however, I’d wait to see how he performs with a depleted supporting cast before paying him like a superstar quarterback.