Bears' offseason priorities include QB accuracy, better pass rush

CHICAGO -- Amid the haze of 20 hours of exit interviews and closing the book on his first season as head coach of theChicago Bears, Ben Johnson hadn't reflected much on the past year of his life. The culmination of that time resulted in him making a charter franchise relevant for the first time in years with 11 regular-season wins, an NFC North title and a postseason win in the wild-card round.

During his season-ending news conference on Jan. 21, Johnson admitted that while he hadn't had the time for a thorough rewatch of the Bears' 20-17 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Ramsin the divisional round, his sights were already set on the future.

"If anything, that just rejuvenates me and makes me want to push harder and longer than what we did this past season," Johnson said. "I'm already looking ahead to 2026 myself."

The future is bright for a team that has finally found the right pairing between its head coach and quarterbackCaleb Williams. Building off that, as well as fighting off areas of regression next season, starts by answering the following three questions as the Bears begin attacking their offseason to-do list.

Where does Caleb Williams need to improve most?

Johnson's first order of business for his quarterback was for him to unplug from football for a while. Williams, who spends his offseason training in Florida with quarterbacks coach Will Hewlett, improved his communication with the coaching staff and his teammates throughout the year and left Johnson with a strong impression about the 24-year-old's trajectory.

"I'm Caleb Williams' No. 1 believer," Johnson said. "I have a lot of faith in him and what he's capable of doing and the player he's still striving to become."

Williams set a single-season franchise passing record with 3,942 yards to go along with 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He took 24 sacks in his second season after enduring 68 as a rookie. He became well-versed at playing under center and with the use of play-action, two elements that were used sparingly during his rookie year.

Williams had some incredible moments in the postseason, including leading the Bears back from a 21-3 deficit to beat the Green Bay Packersin the wild-card round and his miraculous fourth-down throw to Cole Kmet to force overtime with the Rams. But he also threw multiple interceptions in back-to-back playoff games after not doing so at any point during the regular season.

Only one NFL quarterback --New England's Drake Maye -- reached the 4,000-yard, 70% completion percentage goal the Bears set for Williams in his second season. Williams' 58.1% completion rate fell well below the league average (64.3%) and, along with improving his footwork, is what the quarterback wants to zero in on this offseason.

"Being able to be in the offense for a year, being able to be comfortable in the offense now, being able to go back and look at things I could have done better," Williams said. "Was I too far forward? Was I too far back? Was I not consistent enough with my footwork? Did I lean off and fall off the mound is what we call it. It's just super small things to be able to be more consistent for the guys, for the team. Be able to keep the offense on the field as long as possible and be as efficient as possible."

How do the Bears address the void at left tackle?

Ozzy Trapilo sustained a ruptured patellar tendon late against the Packers in the playoffs, which forced the Bears to scramble by moving Joe Thuney to left tackle and inserting Jordan McFadden at left guard against the Rams. Chicago chose not to start Theo Benedet at left tackle (after he started eight games in 2025) in a win-or-go-home situation, which seemed to imply that his ceiling as a starter might have been reached.

General manager Ryan Poles said he expects Trapilo's injury to keep the former second-round pick sidelined "deep into next year," so the Bears' top priority on offense becomes finding a starting left tackle who will allow the O-line to maintain the continuity it established as a unit: It ranked No. 1 in pass block win rate and fifth in run block win rate.

How Trapilo progresses through his rehabilitation will determine the path the Bears take in finding his replacement. If he's likely to come back at any point next season, will signing a free agent left tackle suffice? If the Bears believe Trapilo will eventually come back and continue to progress toward being their long-term option, it might not make sense to use a high draft pick and create a logjam at the position.

But if this injury raises questions about Trapilo's ability to be the same player, the Bears might have to start over in finding their next franchise left tackle.

How do the Bears fix their pass rush?

Chicago's biggest free agent decisions lie on defense, but as Poles determines how and who to pay among defensive backsKevin Byard III, Jaquan Brisker and Nahshon Wright, allocating resources to the weakest link on that side of the ball is arguably a bigger priority.

The Bears had a league-best 33 takeaways in the regular season, a staggering number considering what little help they received consistently from getting pressure up front. Chicago ranked 31st in pass rush win rate (29%) and 26th in run block win rate (29%).

At the trade deadline, Poles said the Bears made calls on "on all of the guys you would imagine just to see the availability" when asked specifically about trying to add players such asCincinnati's Trey Hendrickson andLas Vegas' Maxx Crosby. Instead, Chicago added depth when it traded a 2026 sixth-round pick for Joe Tryon-Shoyinka.

It's not as if the Bears were stagnant in adding to the pass rush last offseason. They spent big on DE Dayo Odeyingbo and DT Grady Jarrett in free agency and used a second-round pick on DT Shemar Turner.

Chicago's hope is that Odeyingbo (who had one sack in eight games) and Turner (limited to five games) can return from injury and contribute, but the Bears will need to make significant additions up front to find a solution to fixing their problem area.

Names such as Crosby, who seems headed for a divorce with the Raiders, and Hendrickson, who is a free agent, will be linked to the Bears ahead of free agency. Chicago could also add via the draft with the 25th pick.

"You make tweaks of course but stick to the process of bringing in the right types of people and it usually works out for you," Poles said. "I think you see it across the league all the time, you panic, and you want to do crazy things that everybody else wants you to do, it leads you to some situations you can't get out of.

"So we want to stay flexible, we want to stay open-minded, we want to stay committed to building this team the right way because I think that's the best way to sustain success. We're always going to be opportunistic. We're going to go through opportunities that pop up and talk through them. Is this best for us short term? Is it best for us long term? And then we move from there."

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