Overall, the roster is in a good spot with no real high-level players going into a contract year outside of Keenan Allen. Poles has been able to lock down his guys dishing out extensions to Cole Kmet, Jaylon Johnson, Cairo Santos, Montez Sweat, and most recently D.J. Moore. With all this being said, this is still the NFL and lots of things change from year to year. Let's take a look at eight players entering their final season with Chicago.
1. Jack Sanborn, LB
Jack Sanborn has become a fan-favorite since joining the team in 2022 after going undrafted out of Wisconsin. When Roquan Smith was traded to the Ravens, Sanborn stepped up and filled those shoes about as good as an undrafted guy can.
Ryan Poles and the Bears brought in two big-name linebackers a year ago in Tremaine Edmunds and T.J Edwards, who now are cornerstones of Eberflus' defense. Sanborn still played in all 17 games in 2023 but with the league becoming more and more pass-happy, defenses more times than not have their nickel back on the field and not their 3rd linebacker.
This is not a case of letting a guy walk because he cannot play, this is a case of the Bears already having $20.8M invested in Edmunds and Edwards, so it is not likely they re-sign Sanborn who will garner a lot of attention in free agency. I think we see the Bears let him test the free agency waters and a team makes an offer that the Bears simply cannot afford to match given the money already invested in their linebacking corps.
2. Marcedes Lewis, TE
Marcedes Lewis has to stop playing football at some point, right? Jokes aside, Lewis will be 41 years old heading into next year's offseason which might as well be 41 million in football years. He is mainly on the roster now as a mentor for younger players, but can also still block with the best of them.
Lewis has been a huge help to the development of Cole Kmet and will likely serve to help rookie Caleb Williams this year.
Money is not an issue here with Lewis only being on a $2M contract through this season. The hope for Bears' fans is that he can provide that guidance to younger guys on the team this year while providing quality blocking up front in power situations.
Lewis has only made the postseason four times in his 18-year career, so hopefully he can go out with a bang in 2025.
3. Coleman Shelton, C
I get it, Shelton just got here so it probably makes more sense for him to be "entering his lone season in Chicago" but we're still going to roll with it.
The Bears' center play as of late has been nothing short of abysmal. The combo of Sam Mustipher and an aging Cody Whitehair has left fans screaming at the TV the past few years making an already impossible middle-of-the-field read for Justin Fields that much more difficult.
Say what you want about Fields, but the center play in Chicago needs to improve if any quarterback wants to see success.
Shelton was brought in to compete with Ryan Bates for the job after serving as the starter for the Rams for the last year and a half. PFF graded Shelton with a 66.1 last season, good for 17th overall in the league. He is not going to be Olin Kreutz, but he can at least be an average center on a hopefully explosive offense. I do not think Shelton is the long-term answer at center as he was only brought in on a one-year deal. Ryan Bates seems to be Poles' guy and the Bears will have plenty of picks next season in the draft to address the future of the position.
4. Nate Davis, G
When Nate Davis is on the field and healthy he is an above-average guard in the NFL. The problem is he never seems to be both of those at the same time. Davis was signed in 2022 to a three-year deal worth $30M after coming off a good campaign with the Titans. He was viewed to be coming in and anchoring the interior offensive line for the Bears but has not quite lived up to those expectations. He played in just 11 games last year and has already missed some time in training camp this season with injuries.
There has been plenty of drama surrounding Davis' lack of practicing in order to build continuity among the offensive line. Coaches seem to brush this aside, but the fans are getting restless and I assume if this continues the coaches will as well.
Davis will still have one more year left on his deal after this season, but the Bears can save $9.5M in cap if they cut him pre-June 1st 2025. Ryan Bates can provide depth at the position as well as rookie Kiran Amegadjie who played some guard at Yale.
5. Keenan Allen , WR
Allen has been one of the NFL's best receivers for the last decade. His crispy route-running, paired with his 6'2 frame make him a quarterback's best friend. He becomes even more valuable when you have a young quarterback learning the ropes which is exactly what the Bears have in Caleb Williams.
Allen is coming off statistically his best season in the NFL where he caught 108 balls for 1,243 yards and seven touchdowns. The question is not if he can play or not, but rather what the Bears have outside of him and his age.
He will be 33 years old next season going into camp and for a guy who seemingly misses time every year with injury, his age is not going to do him any favors. The hope is that top-10 pick Rome Odunze develops nicely and can become the true number one or two receiver on this offense with D.J. Moore, who recently signed an extension.
If Odunze shows an upside this year, which everyone believes to be the case, I don't see a world where you pay Allen big money after extending Moore and knowing Odunze will need his down the road. Allen will likely be looking for one more big payday and that won't be with the Bears.
6. Khalil Herbert, RB
Herbert will be entering the final year of his rookie deal this season and I do not think this is a contract that will be re-signed by the Bears. They already have a crowded backfield with D'Andre Swift, Herbert, Roschon Johnson, Travis Homer, and newly converted Velus Jones. Herbert is a good runner and provides a nice change of pace, but he does not catch the ball out of the backfield particularly well and is quite awful in pass protection.
Roschon Johnson was used much more in passing situations a year ago which shows the trust they had in a rookie for picking up blitzes over Herbert. He did suffer an injury last year that may have contributed to his subpar play down the stretch, but it also says a lot that the Bears made running back a priority signing this offseason when they added D'Andre Swift.
We all know the narrative of not paying running backs big money because their position is simply not as crucial to the game as it once was. Herbert is a fine running back but does nothing special that will make the Bears dish out money to him instead of getting someone cheaper or even giving rookie Ian Wheeler another shot once he returns from a torn ACL.
7. Dominique Robinson, DE
Robinson is headed into his 3rd NFL season and we still have more questions than answers with him. Viewed as a raw athlete with major upside, he has yet to take a step and become a valuable piece to the roster. He has just two sacks in two years and now will be fighting for playing time with rookie Austin Booker who looks like a steal in the fourth round.
The Bears had a glaring need of pass-rush help opposite of Montez Sweat and made a trade for Darrell Taylor before finalizing their roster as well.
Robinson will still have another year remaining on this rookie deal, but the Bears can save $1.1M by cutting him before June 1st. That does not break the bank but can be money utilized elsewhere or perhaps another raw pass-rusher out of college.
He simply has not shown any progress that would make him a part of the plans of the Chicago Bears. In 242 snaps last season, he posted a PFF grade of 35.3 which was the lowest in the league among edge defenders with at least 200 snaps. The experiment is over.
8. Velus Jones Jr., WR/RB
Speaking of experiments that are over, it looks like the Velus Jones receiver project Ryan Poles initiated with his first third-round pick in 2022 is coming to a close. Jones has not been able to get consistent reps at wide receiver over the past two seasons, just as he has been unable to catch the ball consistently or hold on to it afterward. For as much praise we are currently giving Poles on the construction of this roster, the Velus Jones pick was a reach then and looks even worse now.
Velus Jones is the same age as D.J. Moore and Moore almost had more receiving yards against the Commanders last season (230) than Jones has had receiving and rushing in his career thus far (281). I know it is unfair to compare the two players, but I am just trying to stress how bad he has been.
It is not only that he is not performing, but also costing the Bears games on occasion from a muffed punt or fumbled run. He recently made the move to the backfield and looked decent against the future plumbers and car salesmen of the 4th quarters in NFL preseason games. Hopefully, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron can get something out of Jones that Luke Getsy could not this season, but regardless this should be the last year he is with the Bears.
