Preseason is officially in the books with the Chicago Bears beating the Tennessee Titans 24-15.
That leaves one big decision coming for the Bears: the final 53-man roster. They'll have to make a lot of tough decisions, and many good players will be left off.
Who should make the team, and what will the 53-man roster look like? Here is the full prediction of the 2026 roster.
Final Chicago Bears 53-man roster prediction for the 2026 season
Specialists (3): Cairo Santos (K), Tory Taylor (P), Beau Gardner (LS)
No surprises on special teams, with all three having expected to be the guys, but Gardner had to earn his job after battling with Luke Elkin for the starting long snapper job. Santos has missed two field goals in the preseason, but as long as he can stay consistent and clean that up, he should be fine.
Defensive Tackles (5): Gervon Dexter Sr., Grady Jarrett, Jordan van den Berg, Neville Gallimore, James Lynch
Van den Berg has been the star of training camp, and he looks like a starter on this team in 2026 as a rookie. Lynch looked good in training camp as well, but Dexter is the main guy, and Jarrett needs to prove himself this season.
Defensive Ends (4): Montez Sweat, Austin Booker, Dayo Odeyingbo, James Hardy
While Jamree Kromah had some nice moments in preseason, he hasn't done enough to put himself on the roster. Sweat looked great, and the hope is that Booker can get healthy. Odeyingbo needs a bounce-back season after only having one sack in eight games before his season-ending injury last year.
Linebackers (6): T.J. Edwards, Devin Bush, D'Marco Jackson, Ruben Hyppolite II, Jack Sanborn, Keyshaun Elliott
Elliott coming back from injury should help him land a spot on the roster. Opinions vary on Hyppolite, but his speed at the linebacker position is just too good to give up on.
Cornerbacks (6): Jaylon Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson, Kyler Gordon, Malik Muhammad, Jaylon Jones, Josh Blackwell
Muhammad might be a rookie, but he could be a solid nickel on the team. He might be playing the position too soon, though, since Gordon's status for 2026 is up in the air. Johnson and Stevenson should be the starting outside corners and hopefully can make for a good team.
Safeties (4): Dillon Thieneman, Cam Lewis, Xavier Woods, Elijah Hicks
With Coby Bryant out, the safety position is kind of a mess. The hope is that Thieneman will live up to the hype and that newcomers Lewis or Woods can exceed everyone's expectations.
Quarterbacks (3): Caleb Williams, Tyson Bagent, Case Keenum
The quarterbacks should remain the same. Bagent is looking more and more like a starting quarterback in this league with how good he looks in Ben Johnson's offense.
Running Backs (4): D'Andre Swift, Kyle Monangai, Salvon Ahmed, Roschon Johnson
At running back, Ahmed and Johnson are fighting for that RB3 job. Monangai is hurt, with his status for Week 1 against the Carolina Panthers up in the air. For now, the Bears should carry four backs, and once Monangai gets healthy, either Ahmed or Johnson will survive.
Wide Receivers (5): Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, Kalif Raymond, Jahdae Walker, Zavion Thomas
It's been clear that these are the top five wide receivers on the team. Kaden Davis might make the biggest push to be on the 53-man roster, but with other positions that need depth, he might be a practice squad member for the Bears.
Tight Ends (3): Colston Loveland, Cole Kmet, Sam Roush
These should be the tight ends all season, and this trio dominated throughout training camp. Roush showed he's more than a blocking tight end. Expect Loveland to be a top-five tight end by the end of the season.
Offensive Linemen (10): Ozzy Trapilo, Joe Thuney, Garrett Bradbury, Jonah Jackson, Darnell Wright, Logan Jones, Braxton Jones, Jordan McFadden, Luke Newman, Theo Benedet
This was pretty close to what was expected at the beginning of training camp. The only surprise is that Trapilo is actually healthy enough to potentially play earlier in the year, so he might actually be active.
Read more: 5 winners (and 3 losers) from Chicago Bears' 2026 training camp
Two names that Bears fans have been monitoring but that didn't make the list: Jedrick Wills Jr. and Kiran Amegadjie. Wills failed to impress despite being a former first-round pick for the Cleveland Browns, and Amegadjie never developed into the lineman the Bears wanted.
Add us as a preferred source on Google