The 2025 NFL season is now in the books after the Seattle Seahawks’ resounding Super Bowl victory. Up next: the scouting combine later this month in Indianapolis, followed closely by the start of free agency in March. As the Chicago Bears look to build on a division championship season, how aggres sive should they — or can they — be with their offseason moves? Brad Biggs’ weekly Bears mailbag begins there. Do you think the Bears will get aggressive and trade up in this draft to take advantage of Caleb Williams’ rookie contract window? — @michael16824439 There has been a handful of questions about roster building and salary-cap strategy as it pertains to Williams, who will be entering Year 3 of a four-year contract that includes a team option for 2028. There’s no greater value in the NFL than having a starting quarterback on a rookie contract, which is basically what the Bears have had since the Jay Cutler era with some brief exceptions (Mike Glennon, Nick Foles). Cutler had a $17 million cap figure in 2016, his last year with the Bears, and that ranked 15th at the position leaguewide. In the nine years since, Mitch Trubisky, Justin Fields and Williams made the vast majority of the starts while on rookie contracts, so the Bears have made minimal investments at the position, especially compared with teams that have given their starting quarterbacks second and third contracts. That’s one reason the team has had multiple offseasons with a lot of cap flexibility, and it was certainly a factor in the 2018 decision to trade for edge rusher Khalil Mack and sign him to a contract that, at the time, made him the highest-paid defensive player in the league. The NFL established a rookie wage scale with the collective bargaining agreement in 2011, and that dramatically shifted how the top draft picks were paid. Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was the top pick that year and received a four-year, $22 million contract. The year before, quarterback Sam Bradford was the No. 1 pick and signed a six-year, $78 million contract with the St. Louis Rams that included $50 million guaranteed and had a maximum value of $86 million. The rookie wage scale has given teams extreme value with draft picks that become stars or even core players, and quarterbacks highlight that more than any other position. Williams has a cap number of $10.77 million for 2026, which ranks 25th at the position. Meanwhile, nine quarterbacks carry cap hits of $51.9 million or higher — a gap of more than $40 million in cap space. As everyone knows, the Bears are snug against the cap right now as they plot offseason moves to create flexibility and fill roster holes. Some have pointed out that with a cut or two and a slew of restructures and extensions, the Bears could instantly have $60 million in cap space or more. That’s true, but kicking the can down the road would create a situation in which the Bears have similar cap decisions (with larger implications) in future years, when — if all goes as planned — Williams has one of those high cap figures that the elite quarterbacks on second contracts carry. Don’t take this as doom and gloom because the Bears’ cap situation beyond 2026 isn’t cluttered. They can move on from some veterans before 2027 that would create space, and when you look ahead to 2028 — just two years from now — only 12 players are under contract and only two of those aren’t on rookie deals: wide receiver DJ Moore and nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon. Chicago Bears roster breakdown: How the offensive players fared in 2025 — and their contract statuses for 2026 The question for general manager Ryan Poles, coach Ben Johnson, vice president of football administration Matt Feinstein and other core members of the front office is how aggressive the Bears want to be now in clearing space that they would have to account for in 2027, 2028 and potentially beyond? That’s a layered discussion with a lot of nuance, understanding that Poles is operating with parallel goals of making the Bears as competitive as possible in 2026 while also maintaining an eye on the future. What’s great is the Bears don’t have a staff that is backed into a win-or-else predicament in which moves are made for the present with little consideration to ramifications in the following seasons. While I fully understand the value of having a successful quarterback on a rookie contract and the freedom that creates in roster development, I think it’s a little overblown from the standpoint that you have to strike now. In the 15 years since the rookie wage scale was implemented, two quarterbacks have hoisted the Lombardi Trophy while playing on their original contract: Russell Wilson with the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII and Patrick Mahomes with the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV. Wilson made it back to the Super Bowl the next season while still on his rookie deal but lost to the New England Patriots on the Malcolm Butler interception at the goal line. Related Articles Portage proposes Chicago Bears stadium on city land Column: Seattle Seahawks’ emphatic Super Bowl victory highlights some offseason priorities for Chicago Bears Gov. JB Pritzker talked Bears with NFL commissioner, says progress is being made to keep team in Illinois Today in Chicago History: Bears’ Steve McMichael selected for Pro Football Hall of Fame NFL coaching and GM tracker: Chicago Bears hire new offensive coordinator and running backs coach The Seahawks, under general manager John Schneider, became the model for roster building because of what they achieved in the first few years of Wilson’s career. It has been a difficult formula to re-create for a multitude of reasons, the greatest being that even with a high draft pick, it’s difficult to find the right quarterback. Six other quarterbacks in that span have reached the Super Bowl on rookie contracts: the Patriots’ Drake Maye (2025), the San Francisco 49ers’ Brock Purdy (2023), the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts (2022), the Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow (2021), the Los Angeles Rams’ Jared Goff (2018) and the 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick (2012). So nine of the 30 starting quarterbacks in the last 15 Super Bowls — 30% — have been on a rookie deal. Mahomes has made it to four more Super Bowls (and won two more) since his first contract extension before the 2020 season. Hurts made it back to the Super Bowl and won after being rewarded with a second contract in Philadelphia. Tom Brady played in six Super Bowls and won four after the advent of the rookie wage scale. The Bears have reason to believe they have opened a window to compete at the highest level for years to come with Johnson and Williams. Teams that have the right quarterback are in the hunt regularly, and to remain in striking distance it requires some shrewd and calculated decisions every offseason. I don’t get the sense the Bears are looking at the coming season as “2026 or bust.” We’ll see how aggressive Poles and Co. are when things get rolling next month as they pursue both success in the season ahead and, ultimately, sustained winning at Halas Hall. Think they do something similar to the defensive line like they did the offensive line last year? Obviously, probably could only make one move, but I wonder. — @keeegs2 Bears defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo hops off the field on one foot after an injury in the fourth quarter against the Bengals on Nov. 2, 2025, at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) That’s one of the fallacies out there. The Bears made efforts to strengthen the defensive line last offseason, signing tackle Grady Jarrett and end Dayo Odeyingbo in free agency while investing a second-round pick in Shemar Turner. It just so happened the new defensive linemen weren’t as impactful as the trio of veteran offensive linemen — guards Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson and center Drew Dalman — that joined the fold. So the Bears didn’t ignore the defensive line last year. The offensive linemen stayed healthy, and all three new defensive linemen were injured. Jarrett required arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and still played in 14 games. Odeyingbo made eight starts before suffering a torn Achilles tendon, and Turner played five games before suffering a torn ACL. Chicago Bears roster breakdown: How the defensive players fared in 2025 — and their contract statuses for 2026 As I detailed after a week at the Senior Bowl and again after the Seahawks’ Super Bowl LX victory Sunday, it’s no surprise the defensive line will be the primary need this offseason. Will there be teams interested in clearing cap space by flipping a high-priced veteran for a mid- to late-round draft pick like the Bears found last year when they traded for Thuney and Jackson? That’s probably wishful thinking. That was a perfect storm for Ryan Poles as the Chiefs couldn’t afford Thuney when they needed to re-sign guard Trey Smith and the Rams wanted to achieve cap savings after Jackson’s one season in Los Angeles went sideways. The Bears are deep into the evaluation stage when it comes to free agency, the draft and exploring what might be available via other avenues, including trades. What will it look like when the new league year opens March 11? I expect the Bears to look for some combination of veterans and draft picks to fortify the defensive line and give coordinator Dennis Allen more talent, competition and depth in the trenches. I imagine you could see one veteran acquired, and in a good draft for defensive linemen, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Bears used two of their top four picks to supplement that room. It’s early to start guessing on names, but figure they’ll add two, maybe three linemen to the fold to help raise the level of performance. How does the Bears roster compare to Seattle’s? If there’s a gap, what do the Bears need to do to close that gap? — @mmesq11 Fresh off the Super Bowl LX win, Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba holds the Vince Lombardi Trophy as the team deplanes at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (Ken Lambert/The Seattle Times via AP) That’s a bit of a loaded question as the reigning Super Bowl champions enjoyed a 14-3 regular season that found them at or near the top of power rankings for the bulk of the season. According to Aaron Schatz, who developed the DVOA system that measures a team’s efficiency by comparing success on every play with a league average that factors situation and opponent, the Seahawks were an all-time great team. In his DVOA rankings, the top five Super Bowl champions since 1978, including playoffs, are the 1991 Washington Redskins, 1985 Bears, 2025 Seahawks, 1989 49ers and 1996 Green Bay Packers. That Washington team is overlooked by many when discussing all-time elite teams, but it had an amazing plus-261 point differential — an average of plus-16.3 per regular-season game — before outscoring opponents 123-41 in the postseason. That’s one metric that ranks the 2025 Seahawks very high. Seattle had a bounty of draft ammunition after trading quarterback Russell Wilson in 2022 (boy, the Bears are lucky they didn’t pull off the trade they attempted to engineer for Wilson the year before), and GM John Schneider has nailed it with picks since. They have 14 projected starters for 2026 who were drafted by the team, and they’re in position to extend players such as cornerback Devon Witherspoon and wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba because they have salary-cap flexibility. Let’s bring this back to the Bears, though. They have every reason to believe a window to compete for a championship is open. They went to overtime against the Rams in the divisional round and were a play away from going to Seattle for the NFC championship game. The nucleus, starting with quarterback Caleb Williams, is there for coach Ben Johnson and his staff. The Bears have to get better, but they have young players that should be expected to improve. Las Vegas oddsmakers aren’t necessarily bullish on the Bears right now. They’re 14th or 15th in terms of odds to win Super Bowl LXI, depending on where you look, but 14 teams have 20-1 or shorter odds. That’s almost half the league. Westgate SuperBook had the Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars at 25-1 after Seattle’s victory Sunday. The Seahawks were the favorite at 9-1, followed by the Rams, Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions at 10-1. With a productive offseason, good health and a strong start in 2026, the Bears’ odds could be much shorter. I know everybody wants a defensive end or defensive tackle with the first pick but I’d prefer a left tackle. After seeing the Super Bowl, if the Bears can’t protect Caleb Williams’ blind side, he can’t step up to throw. What do you think? And I would take a defensive tackle as I always say if you can’t stop the run, you can’t get to the quarterback. — @king962129502 There are a lot of layers to any answer here. Significant evaluations need to be made. First, what’s the long-term projection for Ozzy Trapilo? Is he more than a stop-gap measure at left tackle when he’s back to full health? What are the chances he returns to full health from what is a major injury, a ruptured patellar tendon in his left knee? Then, what are the options at No. 25 in Round 1? Is there a left tackle with a high grade still on the board there? What kind of grade does that player have versus potential defensive linemen, safeties, linebackers and other positions? I believe the Bears have to get the best player they can at No. 25 and not reach for need because when teams fall into that trap, they often are staring at the same need two or three years down the road. With Press Taylor becoming the offensive coordinator, what names are you hearing to take over the passing game coordinator position? — @gravedigger5921 My suspicion is this is something Ben Johnson still is working through. What we know to this point is Taylor has been promoted to replace Declan Doyle, who departed to become the offensive coordinator in Baltimore, and the Bears went outside to replace running backs coach Eric Bieniemy (hired as the Chiefs OC) with former Bears assistant Eric Studesville. NFL coaching and GM tracker: Chicago Bears hire new offensive coordinator and running backs coach The only opening right now is for a passing game coordinator. We don’t know what title the team will give Will Lawing, whom the Bears reportedly hired last month after a stint at Boston College. Lawing was a wide receiver at North Carolina when Johnson was a backup quarterback there. He was the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach at BC the last two seasons and served as tight ends coach (two seasons) and offensive assistant (two seasons) for the Houston Texans. Perhaps Lawing could be named passing game coordinator, or maybe Johnson will seek an external or even internal candidate to fill Taylor’s old position. Arizona Cardinals passing game specialist Connor Senger interviewed for the Bears OC job that went to Taylor. Maybe he would be a candidate to become the passing game coordinator. Don’t discount that possibility, and in that scenario, perhaps Lawing would be an offensive assistant. I’d say we’re in a wait-and-see mode that the Bears might not clear up until shortly before the scouting combine. At pick No. 25, does it matter as much if a prospect is older? — @dantepurify Miami's Akheem Mesidor reacts after sacking Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza in the College Football Playoff national championship game Jan. 19, 2026, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) That’s a good question. When you talk about a first-round pick, especially a late first-rounder, you’re looking at a five-year window. What can this player be for the team over the next half-decade? It would be an interesting discussion for someone like Miami defensive end Akheem Mesidor, who will turn 25 in early April before the draft. Mesidor had 12½ sacks for the Hurricanes this past season and 18 over the last two years. There are some medical questions surrounding Mesidor — a foot injury limited him to three games in 2023 — but if he checks out physically, he’s a very interesting prospect for the back half of Round 1, even at 25 years old. As a Bears fan living in Argentina, I had a lot of hope that with the international games now adding Brazil, the Bears would be an obvious candidate since they have a Brazilian player on the roster (kicker Cairo Santos) and I would finally be able to go to a Bears game. How come the NFL didn’t pick the Bears? — @gongimenez The NFL announced the Cowboys will play a regular-season game in Rio de Janeiro in 2026, and the Bears are not on Dallas’ list of opponents. The tie-in with Santos would make the Bears a popular pick for Brazil, but their international efforts have been centralized in the United Kingdom and Spain, two areas where they have claims in the league’s Global Markets Program. The Lions, Dolphins, Patriots and Eagles have marketing rights in Brazil, and Miami is the only team that has a GMP affiliation with Argentina. The Dolphins are heavily invested in Latin America as they are also the only team claiming rights in Colombia and Mexico. My guess is the Bears’ next international home game will be in Spain or back in the UK. ...read more read less