The Chicago Bears have made it no secret that their plan this offseason has been to shake things up. The franchise can't afford to be passive and waste Caleb Williams' talent. With a competent coaching staff finally in place, finishing upgrading the roster is the top priority this offseason.
Of course, sometimes it's addition by subtraction on an NFL roster. The Bears had plenty of free agents walk in 2024, and 12 players have already signed deals with new teams. Not every player has been so lucky, however.
There are still nine former Bears who are unemployed as the league starts to turn its attention toward the NFL Draft in April.
Remaining Former Bears in Free Agency
As April rolls on and the league starts to turn its attention more heavily toward the NFL Draft, there are still nine players from the Bears' 2024 roster who hit free agency in March and remain unemployed:
- Keenan Allen
- DeMarcus Walker
- Gerald Everett
- Marcedes Lewis
- Patrick Scales
- Adrian Colbert
- Collin Johnson
- Nsimba Webster
- Douglas Coleman
Allen is obviously the biggest name on the list. Nobody expected the 32-year-old to break the bank as a top free agent, but it certainly seemed like his services would be in demand even after a down year. His 744 receiving yards were his fewest ever in a season in which he played at least 10 games, but he still had 7 touchdowns and averaged just shy of 50 receiving yards per game.
Allen may well be the one choosing to take things slow in free agency though — waiting to see the offseason further develop will help him figure out where he can sign to play the biggest role, or to have the best chance at winning a Super Bowl.
The rest of this list isn't quite so impressive.
Nobody else on the list played even 300 snaps, and the only two to play more than 200 were Marcedes Lewis and Gerald Everett. Lewis is 40 years old, and Everett was flat-out terrible. It makes sense that other teams weren't exactly clamoring to sign either one.
Still, once the dust has settled on the draft and training camp begins to approach, expect most of the names on this list to at least get a shot at fighting for a 2025 roster spot, whether it's with the Bears or with another team.