The Bears’ linebacker room dealt with a myriad of injuries last season, and that opened the door for some unlikely contributors down the stretch. None made more of their opportunity than D’Marco Jackson, whom the team signed off waivers just before the start of the regular season.

Jackson made a lot of plays in the middle of their defense and even wore the green dot (which saw him relay plays to the rest of the team) over his four starts. While he may have been a back-of-the-roster player at the beginning of the year, he wound up being one of their most impactful defenders when he finally got a chance to show what he can do.

The team rewarded him with a two-year, $7.5 million contract on the first day of free agency. That type of contract won’t guarantee him a starting job, but he showed that he could more than hold his own when he got into the lineup last year. I’m sure the team would feel comfortable with him playing a bigger role.

They were not done adding to the linebacker room, though. They also signed Devin Bush to a three-year, $30 million deal. Unlike Jackson, that is locked-in starter money, and there’s reason to believe he could have a starring role on defense.

It’s fair to wonder what role Bush will play on defense, and, more specifically, whose job he’ll be taking. While it’s easy to assume that he’ll assume the responsibilities formerly held by Tremaine Edmunds, whom the team released to save a healthy chunk of change (roughly $15 million) ahead of free agency, the future of TJ Edwards is also in question.

The Bears re-signed Edwards to a two-year, $10 million deal last offseason. While it might not have looked egregious at the time (although it was questionable for an aging player who looked a step slow to the ball in 2024), it has aged incredibly poorly. Edwards only played in ten games last year and fractured his fibula in their wild card matchup against Green Bay.

Ryan Poles and Ben Johnson both emphasized the importance of improving their speed on the defensive side of the ball this offseason. Bush and Jackson both fit that profile. They’re both quality athletes (Bush, in particular, is an elite athlete). Meanwhile, Edwards has never been known for his speed, and it feels safe to assume he won’t be getting faster in his age-30 season coming off a major leg injury.

Edwards is still a good player. He’s a rock-solid run defender who helped improve Chicago’s run defense after he returned to the lineup last year. He’s also a well-respected figure in the locker room. He’s still going to be a liability in pass coverage, though, and getting him off the books (the right way) would save the Bears a lot of money.

I say they would have to get him off the books the right way, because they can’t cut him. They would actually endure a $12 million dead cap hit in that case, which would be extremely ill-advised with him making just over $10.8 million in 2026. They would essentially be paying him more to play for someone else than they would if they just kept him.

With that said, they could trade him and save $6.2 million against the cap. Trading him with a post-June 1st designation would save closer to $8 million. They wouldn’t get much (at all, actually), but a deal in the vein of a late-round pick swap would make a lot of sense to get his contract off the books and allow them to get under the cap to sign their rookie class.

This year’s draft class would provide Chicago with a unique opportunity to replace him with someone who would be a much better fit for the style of defense they want to have. There are a lot of fast and physical ‘backers who will hear their name called on day two.

Jacob Rodriguez, Anthony Hill Jr., Jake Golday, and CJ Allen would all be great picks late in the second round. Josiah Trotter, Kyle Louis, Deontae Lawson, and Harold Perkins Jr. all provide starting value in the fourth.

While it’s tough to gauge how much Edwards’ veteran leadership means to the Bears’ locker room, I’d be all for drafting his replacement if it meant they could get a more well-rounded player at a value (due to how much depth this year’s class features at linebacker).