Chicago Bears

Chicago Bears

When Patrick wrote his quick look at the Chicago Bears salary cap situation, OverTheCap's projections had the 2026 NFL salary cap pegged at $295.5 million. That the projected range for the 2026 range starts at $301.2 million is significant news on its own. It would be helpful for the Bears if the league settles on a $301.2 million number for 2026. But if that number can stretch to $305.7 million, I think folks would be doing cartwheels at Halas Hall.

Eric Studesville was most recently the Miami Dolphins running backs coach on Mike McDaniel's staff. He has been with the Dolphins since 2017, with titles including run game coordinator (2017-20), co-offensive coordinator (2021), and associate head coach (2022-25). Considering how much the Bears head coach respects what McDaniel did as a run-game designer, I can understand why Studesville is someone who might make sense as Chicago's next running backs coach. Plus, Johnson and Studesville worked together in Miami. I imagine that familiarity could be handy.

The matchup is set for Super Bowl LX. Unfortunately, it does not feature the Chicago Bears. Instead, it will be the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks squaring off for the Lombardi Trophy on Feb. 8. In the meantime, the Bears (and 29 other NFL teams) are in full-on offseason mode. It's not where I'd rather be, but that is neither here nor there.

Hoecht's not here right now,

The Packers' online store currently sells 94 different products riffing on the "Cheeseheads" nickname. If you see an NFL fan wearing cheese on their head, you can tell immediately that they're a Green Bay fan. And with that in mind, some enterprising Bears fans sought a way to respond - and found it in an even more ridiculous piece of attire.

A game that saw Caleb Williams throw for a season-high 330 yards and lead five scoring drives to combat a high-powered San Francisco 49ers offense should seemingly have been enough for the Chicago Bears to run out of Levi's Stadium on Sunday night with the type of come-from-behind victory that has become the norm for them in 2025. Instead, a 42-38 loss knocked the playoff-bound Bears out of contention for the NFC's No. 1 seed, with several defensive players shouldering the blame for Chicago failing to earn its 12th win of the season.

Chicago Bears rookie wide receiver Luther Burden III suffered a quad injury Sunday night that is not thought to be serious, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter. Burden suffered the injury on the final play of Chicago's 42-38 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. He attempted to walk off the field with trainers but eventually needed to be carted to the Bears' locker room. Burden, who also missed Chicago's Week 16 game with an ankle injury, will undergo additional testing Monday, the source told Schefter.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Chicago Bears continue to deal with an illness that has impacted at least eight players ahead of their Sunday night meeting with the San Francisco 49ers. The Bears added wide receivers DJ Moore and Olamide Zaccheaus to the injury report Sunday morning with an illness and designated both as questionable. The team already ruled out Rome Odunze (foot) for a fourth straight game.

This is not about leverage. We spent years trying to build a new home in Cook County. We invested significant time and resources evaluating multiple sites and rationally decided on Arlington Heights.

I've seen enough of J.J. McCarthy. On a weekend where draftmates Bo Nix and Drake Maye assumed full command of the AFC, there was the Vikings quarterback playing football as if he had acute lead poisoning. I'm gonna try to describe McCarthy's performance in the space below, but really words don't do it proper injustice. You had to watch. You had to sit there for three miserable hours, beholding a game in which McCarthy gave the home crowd exactly one moment worth cheering for.

"Nobody in that room wants to get it corrected more than the players, alright?" Hightower said. "And we are going to work night and day to get it all cleaned up. I can promise you that. I will bust my ass and they will too, alright, to get it cleaned up."

Odeyingbo was injured with 7:04 to play in the fourth quarter of Chicago's 47-42 win at Cincinnati. The 26-year-old edge rusher's ankle appeared to give out as he was matched up one-on-one with Bengals right tackle Amarius Mims, leading him to fall onto his back. Odeyingbo exited the game and did not return. He logged 37 snaps against the Bengals and recorded one quarterback hit.