The Chicago Bears are now unlikely to return starting strongside linebacker Jack Sanborn for the 2025 season after making a key decision about his free agency.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Bears will not tender Sanborn as a restricted free agent, putting him on track to become an unrestricted free agent next Tuesday.
“The #Bears are not tendering RFA linebacker Jack Sanborn, per source,” Fowler wrote Tuesday on X. “Their starting Sam linebacker the past two seasons also has [six] starts as [a middle linebacker], when he had 71 tackles (six for loss) and three QB hurries.”
Sanborn tallied 164 tackles with 14 for a loss and 4.5 sacks over his first three seasons with the Bears. As Fowler noted, he was particularly impressive in 2022 when he won a roster spot as an undrafted rookie and later on took over as the team’s starting middle linebacker after the Bears traded future All-Pro Roquan Smith to the Baltimore Ravens.
Tendering Sanborn would have meant paying him more in 2025 than he made in the previous three seasons combined, though. According to Over the Cap’s numbers, the right-of-first-refusal tender would cost $3.263 million against the cap, a considerable raise from the roughly $2.5 million that Sanborn has earned since entering the NFL.
The Bears also have a new coaching staff in place that may desire a change in personnel.
Free agency will officially open at 4 p.m. ET on March 12, but negotiations will begin when the NFL’s legal tampering period starts at noon ET on Monday, March 10.
Bears Could Still Re-Sign Jack Sanborn to New Deal
The Bears’ RFA decision with Sanborn indicates they will likely part ways when the new league year begins next week, but it does not completely close the door on a return.
The Bears could still negotiate a new contract with Sanborn before he hits free agency, one that would keep him with the team for one season (or potentially longer) while costing them less in per-year value than the lowest restricted free agent tender would.
Then again, the Bears have nearly $80 million in cap space for the 2025 season and do not need to penny pinch if they want to keep Sanborn — which suggests that, perhaps, new defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has other plans for his linebacker position.
Sanborn also indicated his time with Chicago has come to an end following the news about his tender on Tuesday, sharing a message to fans from his official X account.
“Bears fans, thank you for supporting me over the years,” Sanborn wrote. “I am grateful that I was apart of such a wonderful organization with the best fans in the world! In my heart, I will always be a Bear.”
Will Bears Retain Other Pending Free Agents for 2025?
Sanborn is one of the Bears’ more noteworthy free agents, but he is not the only one anticipating a decision from the team in the next week — one way or another.
In terms of restricted free agency, the Bears have two other candidates for tenders: cornerback Josh Blackwell and defensive tackle Chris Williams. The Bears acquired the latter in a preseason trade with the Cleveland Browns and got good production out of him (three sacks, 23 tackles) on their defensive interior. Meanwhile, Blackwell is their backup slot cornerback and has been a core special teams player for three seasons.
The price tag for either player would be the same as Sanborn, but — also like Sanborn — the Bears could work with them on new contracts that cost less than the RFA tender.
The Bears also have a pair of notable unrestricted free agents in wide receiver Keenan Allen and left guard Teven Jenkins. If the Bears do not extend them, they are free to start negotiations with other teams in less than a week and could already have a new landing spot lined up before the official start of the new league year on March 12.
Other notable free agents include edge rusher Darrell Taylor, right guard Matt Pryor, wide receiver DeAndre Carter and center Coleman Shelton.
