Bears give up two picks for 5-time Pro Bowl CB in trade proposal

Bears give up two picks for 5-time Pro Bowl CB in trade proposal originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The Chicago Bears made massive improvement in 2025 with Ben Johnson leading the team in his first year as head coach.

The Bears — largely due to Johnson’s ability to create mismatches for opposing defenses and build an offense focused on the strengths of his quarterback —finished the regular season with an (111-6) record which was good enough to win the NFC North and make the playoffs. After knocking off the Packers in the Wildcard Round of the playoffs, the Bears’ season came to an end in a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Rams at home While Caleb Williams took a massive step forward and young weapons like Luther Burden and Colstion Loveland emerged, the Bears have to play significantly better on defense if they want to legitimately compete for a Super Bowl in 2026. Chicago finished with the No.

29 overall defense in the NFL last season, allowing 361. 8 yards per game in the regular season and more than 380 yards in the playoffs. The Bears made a few decisions this offseason that seemed questionable, letting Tremaine Edmunds, Jaquan Brisker and Kevin Byard walk out the door and sign new contracts with other teams.

Those three players have been staples on the Bears defense the past few years — and while there’s an argument to be made that Chicago replaced Brisker and Edmunds with younger more versatile players in free agency — the Byard move is hard to grasp. The veteran safety earned his second trip to the Pro Bowl finishing the year with 93 combined tackles (61 solo), eight pass deflections, and a league-leading seven interceptions. He started all 17 games and instead of inking him to a simple, team-friendly deal, the Bears brass let Byard sign with the Patriots for a one-year deal worth just $9 million.