New Orleans Saints at Chicago Bears | NFL Week 11, Nov. 22

With the departure of multi-year starting safeties Kevin Byard and Jaquan Brisker, the Bears sought to replenish their safety room. They started in free agency by bringing in a Super Bowl champion and former Seattle Seahawks safety Coby Bryant. Bryant started 15 games for Seattle and had 66 tackles (39 solo), seven pass deflections, four interceptions, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. He started all three playoff games and had 10 tackles (eight solo) and two pass deflections.

In the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Bears continued to add to their safety room by selecting Oregon Ducks safety Dillon Thieneman with the 25th overall pick. Thieneman earned second-team AP All-American and first team All-Big Ten honors after starting 15 games for the Ducks and racked up 95 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss with one sack, two interceptions, and five pass break ups.

The Bears added former Cleveland Browns linebacker Devin Bush in free agency to boost their linebacking core. Bush wrapped up a career season in 2025, breaking his bests with 125 tackles, three interceptions including two returned for his first career touchdowns, eight pass deflections and two forced fumbles. He also added two sacks and a fumble recovery. Bush said he is looking forward to playing in defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s defense.

“I like the playmaking ability it gives you,” Devin Bush said. “It’s very versatile. We come with different looks and we can put people in different places to do different things based off their skills set. But I’m excited. We have a great d-line in front of us, we got top-flight corners, we got additions to the backend replacing those safeties that left last year, obviously new faces in the linebacker room including myself. So, I’m excited to put it all together and see how it looks.”

After trading away wide receiver D.J. Moore who finished second on the team in receiving yards in 2025, the Bears will look to a pair of second-year playmakers to produce at an even-higher rate. The Bears used their first two picks in the 2025 NFL Draft to add tight end Colston Loveland and wide receiver Luther Burden.

Loveland’s rookie campaign got off to a slow start, but he emerged as a reliable playmaker in head coach Ben Johnson’s offense. He finished leading the team with 713 receiving yards and tied for the team lead with six receiving touchdowns. Burden similarly finished the year strongly after a slow start and ended his rookie season with 47 receptions for 652 yards and two touchdowns. The pair will look to keep building upon a Bears passing attack that finished 2025 ranked 10th in passing yards.