Coming off a Cinderella season, the Chicago Bears face several roster decisions that can impact both the short- and long-term trajectories of the franchise. Several members of their secondary are pending free agents. There are reports that they are open to trading receiver DJ Moore, and they could extend star right tackle Darnell Wright.
Oh, and they are currently $4 million over the salary cap with not a ton of projected cash to spend. Both the salary cap and cash positions can be improved if they cut a veteran linebacker.
The Case For Releasing Tremaine Edmunds
The Bears signed Edmunds to a four-year, $72 million contract in 2023. Despite being three years old, that contract still has Edmunds as the third-highest-paid linebacker in the NFL. With one year left on his contract, he has no guaranteed money left. The Bears could save $15 million in both salary cap and cash if they opted to release him.
Edmunds hasn't been a bad linebacker, per se. But he hasn't been worth his top-of-the-league contract either. Per Pro Football Focus, he ranked 27th in defensive grade last year. The year prior, he ranked 38th overall. Edmunds has been a strong run defender. In 2025 he missed less than 9% of his tackle attempts and a 7.8% run stop rate.
But in coverage, he was more of a liability than a strength. He allowed a catch rate of almost 80% and allowed over one yard per coverage snap, while forcing just two incompletions. And Edmunds wasn't much of a value-add as a pass rusher, generating a pressure rate of just 14.7%.
Releasing Edmunds can free up precious dollars. And there are plenty of options to replace him without breaking the bank.
Free Agent Options
While this crop of free agency doesn't look to be particularly deep, there are specific positions that have quality depth. Linebacker is one of them. At the top of the market are three backers that would cost roughly the same as what the Bears are set to pay Edmunds in 2026. But beyond Nakobe Dean, Devin Lloyd, and Quay Walker are a bevy of linebackers who could provide good value without breaking the bank.
While Alex Anzalone is getting up there in age, he is still a quality all-around linebacker who can still fit the run well and has a higher ceiling in coverage. And Anzalone should cost half of what Edmunds is set to earn this year.
Devin Bush would cost more than Anzalone, but still provide cash and cap savings for the Bears over keeping Edmunds. Bush was arguably the best linebacker in the NFL last year and offers the Bears' defense fantastic upside.
Leo Chenal has been an effective part-time player in Kansas City for years and would bring a pass-rushing element that Edmunds has not offered to this point in Chicago. And he would be the cheapest (and youngest) option of the bunch.
Any of these players would still provide quality snaps while helping Chicago save money and free up cap space to redeploy elsewhere on their roster.
The 2026 NFL Draft
Complimenting the free agency crop of linebackers is a fantastic and deep group of linebackers in the 2026 NFL Draft. The top of that group has three backers who should be off the board by the end of the first round: Ohio State's Arvell Reese, Sonny Styles, and Georgia's C.J. Allen.
But beyond the big three is a quality group of defenders who can contribute on an NFL defense right away. Personally, I am a fan of Arizona State's Keyshaun Elliott and Texas Tech's Jacob Rodriguez. Both have all around game's that should fit well in the modern NFL.
But there are linebackers of almost every flavor available in the early-to-mid rounds. Anthony Hill Jr., from Texas, is a favorite among many draft analysts, though I don't quite see the appeal. Jake Golday from Cincinnati has both pass-rushing and pass-coverage traits that teams will dream on, although his ability to fit the run and work well in the box may need work.
Justin Jefferson out of Alabama plays with his hair on fire and Jeremiah Trotter out of Missouri is known as a run thumping box defender who could step in and replicate a lot of what Edmunds has done well in Chicago.
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The point is, this is a good year to need a linebacker, because there are so many options who can play a strong role without breaking the bank. Chicago's roster is already getting expenive and Caleb Williams will be extension-eligible 12 months from now. Freeing up cap space and cash by letting go of a good-not-great linebacker who is making great money just seems like good business.