After a successful 2025 season, Year 2 under Ben Johnson for the Chicago Bears is about continuing to fortify the standard while eyeing the next step in the playoffs.
For a set of players, as there is every year, there are significant things at stake in 2026. If someone's future is not in Chicago, perhaps they can attract the attention of other teams as they move toward the free agent market next March. Others will be looking to get themselves on a good track and establish themselves as part of the Bears' future.
Turning to future financial consequences, here are five Bears players who are playing for a 2026 contract.
Note: If an extension for right tackle Darnell Wright didn't feel like a slam-dunk to happen this offseason, he'd be No. 1 on this list. If he's playing for a contract come kickoff of Week 1, it'll be a surprise.
5 Chicago Bears players who are playing for a contract in 2026
5. WR Rome Odunze
Yes, Odunze has two years left on his rookie contract, with a fifth-year option possible beyond that. But stick with me here.
After struggling to connect with Caleb Williams when both were rookies, Odunze was hampered by a foot injury for much of last season. Heading into Year 3, with DJ Moore gone, the runway is open for him to become what the Bears envisioned he'd be when they took him No.9 overall in the 2024 draft.
With a third-year breakout, Odunze can make the Bears' decision to pick up his fifth-year option a no-brainer and put himself in position for a lucrative multi-year deal in one fell swoop. So next season is huge for him on every front.
4. C Garrett Bradbury
After the sudden retirement of Drew Dalman early this offseason, the Bears pivoted quickly to acquire Bradbury from the New England Patriots.
Bradbury will never live up to his first-round draft pick billing (No. 18 overall in 2019 by the Minnesota Vikings). But he does deserve credit for forging what may end up being a double-digit season career as a "good, but not great" center, and he's in line for his best season operating between Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson on the Chicago offensive line.
Bradbury is most likely just a one-year placeholder for a long-term answer at center, the Bears are lined up to draft. But with a strong season in what looks to be the best situation he has ever had by far, he can put himself in a position to cash in heavily next March.
3. LT Braxton Jones
Jones had a patently unideal contract year last year. A significant injury from late in the 2024 season trailed him into training camp last summer. Then he struggled, seemingly at less than 100 percent health, and a knee injury landed him on IR for most of the rest of the season.
So, with Ozzy Trapilo expected to miss most if not all of next season, Jones came back to the Bears on a one-year deal. He'll compete with free agent signing Jedrick Wills, and perhaps a rookie, for the starting spot at left tackle during training camp.
Before the injury that shortened his 2024 campaign, Jones had established himself as a solid/above-average left tackle, and that can get you paid handsomely at one of the premium positions in the league. He just has to win the starting job protecting Caleb Williams' blindside heading into his contract year mulligan, and hold it without issue.
2. RB D'Andre Swift
Swift's reunion with Ben Johnson felt pretty good and turned out better than expected. The former Lions' draft pick set career-highs in rushing yards (1,087), rushing touchdowns (nine), and yards from scrimmage (1,386) last season, while also putting up the second-best yards per carry mark of his career (4.9).
But Swift is, of course, now entering the final year of the three-year, $24 million contract he signed with the Bears, and he's nearing the end of his prime years at 27 years old. He'll be 28 by the time he hits the open market next March, and it's unlikely the Bears will extend him before that point.
Swift may have one more good bite at the contract apple left before the decline phase of his career sets in. So next season is a big one for him to prove he's worthy of that kind of contract, no matter who ends up giving it to him.
1. CB Tyrique Stevenson
Stevenson is on shaky ground heading into the final year of his rookie contract, and if not for his status as a projected starter, a decision to cut him may have already come this offseason. But barring a notable addition to the cornerback room still being made, opportunity will be knocking one more time, and he seems ready to answer the door.
Despite the inconsistency (to be kind) in his performance thus far in his career, Spotrac has a heady current projection for Stevenson's market value ($20.1 million per year, on a four-year deal). It'll be up to him to justify that projection, with ample motivation to do so.
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Barring him suddenly becoming one of the best cover corners in the league, it's hard to see the Bears making any further investment in Stevenson. But if he can show himself reasonably well next season, another team might pony up and give him a change of scenery.
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