It's hard to pick a true winner of the Bears' offseason. You have Caleb Williams, the first overall pick in this year's draft, the next great QB hope for a football-crazy fanbase, already beloved by his city. You have Rome Odunze, the Bears' great draft coup with his perfect route tree, also already beloved by his city.
There's also Matt Eberflus with his beard, Jaylon Johnson with his new contract, and Shane Waldron with his new All-Pro wide receiver. And we can't forget you, the fan, who now has the opportunity to spend more of your money on Bears Stuff.
But there can only be one true winner of the offseason, and thanks to ESPN, we now know who it is.
Biggest winner of Bears offseason isn't who fans might think
The official coronation comes from ESPN's latest article, titled, "2024 NFL draft winners, losers: Players impacted by rookie picks." In the piece, ESPN goes team-by-team to declare some winners and some losers. And of course, the Bears had a winner. And he goes by Braxton Jones. Here's their reasoning:
"Passing on top tackles Olu Fashanu and Amarius Mims at No. 9 seems to keep the door open at left tackle for Jones, who has battled bravely since being drafted in the fifth round in 2022. Most teams won't countenance playing such an unheralded player on the blindside of their quarterback, but the Bears really had no choice in 2022. Jones missed six games last season but he apparently did enough to earn the starting job again in 2024 ... "
" ... Jones is eligible for an extension in 2025, so if he holds down the fort and protects Williams this season, he should be in line to get paid north of $20 million per year on his next deal, either by the Bears or another team."
Jones is a divisive player among Bears fans, but it's hard to argue with ESPN's overall point. Penalty and injury issues aside, he's played pretty well considering the fact that he's a 5th rounder out of Southern Utah who basically got thrown into one of the toughest positions on the football field from Day 1. So sure, he's a winner.
But really, we're all winners now that the Caleb Williams' Bear Claw celebration is officially taking off. With all these obvious winners, it seems likely that the Bears will never lose again.