Category: Latest Bears News

Why Leonard Fournette isn’t a good option for the Bears

While Leonard Fournette still might have some left in the tank, the Bears don’t make sense as a landing spot for the free agent RB.

NFL veteran running back Lenoard Fournette is looking for his next NFL home, according to ESPN insider Adam Schefter. He intends to sign with a team before the season, claiming that he’s in the best shape of his career. We’ve all heard the famous line before.

While the Chicago Bears are always looking to improve at every position, they need to stay away from a signing like this right now. With newcomer D’Andre Swift on board and the returns of Khalil Herbert and Roschon Johnson, there is no reason to consider spending money on a running back. That is especially true for a running back currently in the situation that Fournette is in.

“Leonard’s in the best shape of his career and I expect he will have a new home soon,” Fournette’s agent Ari Nissim told Schefter.

Fournette played the first three years of his career with the Jacksonville Jaguars before spending the next three years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With the Bucs, he was a big part of winning the Super Bowl alongside Tom Brady. That’s some nice experience to bring to the table, but it isn’t worth it for Chicago.

Last year, Fournette appeared in two games with the Buffalo Bills. He totaled 12 carries for 40 yards and never found his way into the endzone. It isn’t the most promising situation of all time.

While Fournette still might have some left in the tank, the Bears don’t make sense as a landing spot, especially considering their focus should be adding another pass rusher to the roster.

Giants were high on Bears rookie Rome Odunze during pre-draft process

On the the latest “Hard Knocks” episode, it appears the Giants were high on Bears rookie WR Rome Odunze during the pre-draft process.

Before the Chicago Bears step into the “Hard Knocks” spotlight this summer, the New York Giants are the focal point during the first-ever offseason edition of HBO’s hit show.

In the second episode, the focus shifted to the pre-draft process and the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine, where the Giants met with some top prospects including now Bears rookies quarterback Caleb Williams and wide receiver Rome Odunze.

New York drafted LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers with the sixth overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. But during Tuesday’s episode, it certainly appears that the Giants general manager Joe Schoen was high on Odunze, who was selected at No. 9 by Chicago.

We also caught a glimpse of Odunze’s combine meeting with Giants brass, where he talked about his versatility as a receiver, his high standards and his leadership ability in the locker room.

Odunze was the third receiver drafted this year, but he would’ve been WR1 in any other draft (with Arizona’s Marvin Harrison Jr. and Nabers going 1-2).

Bears general manager Ryan Poles certainly seemed concerned New York would draft Odunze at No. 6, which was spotlighted in a behind-the-scenes look inside of Chicago’s draft room on night one. But

Ultimately, the 2024 NFL draft couldn’t have gone any better for the Bears, who landed their top two players in Williams and Odunze. When all is said and done, could the Giants wind up regretting not drafting Odunze? Only time will tell.

Caleb Williams made an appearance on ‘Hard Knocks’ with Giants

Before Caleb Williams becomes the focal point on the Bears’ summer “Hard Knocks,” he made a cameo during the Giants’ offseason edition.

The Chicago Bears are set to be the focus of HBO’s summer “Hard Knocks,” which will chronicle their training camp and preseason heading into the 2024 season.

But before the Bears take the spotlight in August, HBO has been highlighting the New York Giants in the first offseason edition of the show, bringing NFL fans into the front office during free agency, the NFL draft and everything in between.

During the second episode, which aired Tuesday, Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams made a brief cameo, where met with the Giants at the NFL Scouting Combine.

In the interview, head coach Brian Daboll posed an interesting question to Williams: If you could run one pass play repeatedly in a game, what would it be? And Williams proceeded to draw it up on the whiteboard.

The latest episode of “Hard Knocks” offseason showcased that the Giants were very much exploring drafting a quarterback this year. But Williams was never an option for them. Not really. While Williams met with a number of teams at the NFL Combine, he had just one top 30 visit — with the Bears, who selected him first overall (although it was all but a lock for well over a month).

This was just a quick glimpse at what we can expect when the “Hard Knocks” cameras start rolling in just a couple of weeks at Halas Hall, where the NFL world is going to be seeing a lot of Caleb Williams ahead of the 2024 season.

DJ Moore predicted to be Bears’ MVP for 2024 season

NFL.com’s Eric Edholm believes Bears WR DJ Moore will be the team’s most valuable player during the 2024 season.

The Chicago Bears have some impact players — both returning and new — on the roster who will help contribute to the team’s success in 2024.

But which player will be the most impactful as Chicago looks to contend for the playoffs in Year 3 under head coach Matt Eberflus?

NFL.com’s Eric Edholm examined one MVP for each NFL team heading into the 2024 season. And, as you can imagine, there are several to choose from. Be it on defense with defensive end Montez Sweat and cornerback Jaylon Johnson or offense with wide receiver DJ Moore or rookie quarterback Caleb Williams.

While all of those players were in contention for the spot, ultimately Edholm landed on Moore, noting his importance in helping elevate Williams during his rookie season.

I’ll choose Moore, even if he’s no slam-dunk selection. There’s even a case to be made that Moore’s 2024 numbers could fall below his career-high totals from last season (1,364 receiving yards, eight TD catches), given that the Bears added WRs Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze and RB D’Andre Swift. But if there’s an individual player who holds the key to helping unlock Williams more than Moore, I don’t know who it is.

In the 12 games Justin Fields started and finished last season, Moore averaged 91.8 receiving yards per game and caught half of Fields’ TD passes. Even with a stronger receiving corps this year, Moore figures to be a huge part of Williams’ development in his rookie season — and well beyond.

Moore is coming off a career year in 2023, where he had 96 receptions for 1,364 yards and eight touchdowns. Now, Moore leads a revamped Bears receiving corp also featuring Pro Bowler Keenan Allen and rookie Rome Odunze, which gives the team one of the best trios in the NFL.

Earlier this offseason, Moore joked it’ll be a “race to 1,000 yards” between the three wideouts. All three figure to play a significant role in Williams’ development this season.

What ‘Hard Knocks’ wants to highlight during Bears season

Bears rookie Caleb Williams will no doubt be the focus during “Hard Knocks” this summer. But what else will the crew highlight?

The Chicago Bears will be the featured team on HBO’s summer “Hard Knocks,” which will spotlight them during training camp and preseason leading into an exciting 2024 season.

It’s a thrilling time for Bears fans after general manager Ryan Poles made some big moves, including the additions of first-round rookies Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze and veteran Keenan Allen.

NFL Films senior producer and director Shannon Furman spoke with NBC Sports Chicago about what she’s excited to highlight during summer “Hard Knocks,” which includes spotlighting a charter franchise.

“We’re all excited to have a team that’s been around since the start of the NFL,” Furman said. “It’s a deep history. We’re going to try to include some of that into the show this summer.

“I mean, Chicago’s a great city, it’s a great city to be in in the summertime. I know we’re excited to be able to be there and not be somewhere where we’re roasting hot. My first one was in Houston, that might have been the hottest it’s ever been for ‘Hard Knocks.’ Went to Tampa two years later. So that was pretty, pretty aggressive, too.”

There’s no doubt Williams, the No. 1 overall pick, will be the focal point of “Hard Knocks.” But there will be plenty of focus elsewhere, including the wide receiver room which features one of the league’s best with DJ Moore, Allen and Odunze.

“One of our position groups we’re most excited about is probably the wide receiver room,” Furman said. “DJ Moore, his daughter we’ve seen, we think that she’s going to be a lot of fun.”

But, as expected, Chicago’s top two rookies figure to be the focus as the Bears look to make strides as a franchise. Williams and Odunze have been the talk of Chicago and the NFL world during the offseason, so getting to spotlight these rookies’ budding friendship on and off the field will be a highlight.

“I mean, Rome (Odunze) too, he’s the ninth pick. So it’s kinda crazy, you have two top-10 picks to highlight as rookies that are kind of unknowns,” Furman said. “It’s a story you’re getting to tell people for the first time, at least on the NFL level. People do, they did follow his college career for the past two years and everything. But I do think that helps out when you have something like a new story that’s fresh and people in the city want to learn about and everything.”

According to NBC Sports Chicago, the “Hard Knocks” crew will be at Halas Hall of July 14 — about a week before the players take to the practice field on July 20. There will plenty to cover from the start of camp to the Hall of Fame (including the induction of three Bears greats and the game itself against the Houston Texans) to the roster cutdown process.

The first episode of the five-part series, “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Chicago Bears,” premieres Tuesday, August 6 at 8 p.m. CT on HBO and Max.

Bears land a top edge rusher in ESPN’s 2025 mock draft

The Bears shore up their defensive line with a top edge rusher prospect in Matt Miller’s 2025 mock draft.

The Chicago Bears are gearing up for the start of what’s expected to be an exciting 2024 season, where No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams will look to rewrite the tortured quarterback history in Chicago.

While the 2024 season hasn’t gotten underway yet, it’s never too early to start looking ahead to the 2025 NFL draft, where the Bears have three picks in the first two rounds (including their own first-round selection, to be determined).

ESPN’s Matt Miller released an early 2025 mock draft, where he has Chicago selecting Georgia edge rusher Mykel Williams with the 17th overall pick (an indication the Bears could be playoff contenders this season).

General manager Ryan Poles has done a masterful job rebuilding the roster in Chicago, but the defensive line could use someone such as Williams. The 6-foot-5, 265-pound junior has experience playing both inside and outside alignments, but his future is off the edge in the pros. His nine sacks in two seasons of rotational work point to the impact he can make with full-time reps in 2024. Williams’ combination of power and a sudden first-step could get him drafted in the top 10.

Williams, who has versatility along the defensive line, is considered one of the top edge rusher prospects in this 2025 draft class, although he’s got a long way to go to prove himself during the 2024 season.

It’s no secret that one of the team’s biggest weaknesses is the defensive line, especially edge rusher. Montez Sweat, who Chicago acquired at the trade deadline last year, is the only proven guy on the roster. The Bears need to find a long-term answer alongside Sweat to maximize the defense, a unit that could very well already be a top-10 unit in 2024.

Rome Odunze can help Caleb Williams break Bears’ 75-year quarterback curse

The Bears are hoping to break their 75-year quarterback curse with Caleb Williams. Here’s how rookie receiver Rome Odunze will help.

We all know that the Chicago Bears haven’t had a true franchise quarterback since Sid Luckman, and since Luckman played his last NFL snap in 1950, that’s a REALLY long time to go without a defining player at the game’s most important position.

2024 first-overall pick Caleb Williams is the most recent guy set to break that 75-year quarterback curse, and the Bears have at least given him some weapons to work with. There’s receiver DJ Moore from the 2023 Carolina Panthers trade, whose 96 catches on 132 targets for 1,346 yards and eight touchdowns marked one of the best seasons for a Bears receiver in NFL history. There’s veteran receiver Keenan Allen, who still has some pep in his step and as much savvy at the position as you could ever want to help a young quarterback. Tight end Cole Kmet brings a lot to the table in terms of production.

And with the ninth overall pick in the 2024 draft, the Bears took Washington receiver Rome Odunze — who isn’t here just to round that group out. It’s cleat that the Bears see Odunze as a potential force multiplier, and the tape backs it up. Last season for the Huskies, Odunze caught 92 passes on 140 targets for 1,639 yards and 13 touchdowns. Everybody knew that Odunze was The Guy in Ryan Grubbs’ vertical offense (Michael Penix Jr. had an astonishing 117 passing attempts of 20 or more air yards in 2023, 20 more than anybody else in the NCAA), and Odunze was able to make the most of his season regardless. Odunze had the NCAA’s most deep targets (49), the most deep receptions (23), and the most deep receiving yards (783). Not bad for a prospect who some debited for a lack of explosive downfield speed.

In truth, it’s Odunze’s overall skill set that allows him to win, as opposed to one prominent attribute.

Today’s NFL requires receivers to beat press and tight match coverage, and Odunze has all the tools to do just that. At 6′ 2⅞” and 212 pounds, Odunze combines a slot receiver’s attention to detail in his routes with a big man’s ability to win in the paint.

And when it comes to making catches in dangerous situations — especially over the middle — Odunze has already proven that he relishes such scenarios.

Odunze’s new coaches are already impressed.

“He’s able to pick up an offense right away — really understand all three of the receiver spots right away, so he’s not sitting there locked into one thing,” offensive coordinator Shane Waldron said of Odunze in June. “He’s really picking this offense up as a conceptual learner, which I think only helps him down the road in the regular season when you start moving guys around.”

Head coach Matt Eberflus was equally excited to see what Odunze can do. Eberflus recently talked with the rookie about how Odunze processes film and analyzes his own game, and that meant a lot to the guy in charge.

“I think that was really mature on his part to be able to actually discern and understand how he learns best,” Eberflus said. “The part about being a good learner is knowing how you learn best. I think he knows himself really well. Very mature for his age. He’s a wonderful teammate and he’s going to be exciting to watch.”

The Bears could certainly get used to it if Rome Odunze is able to realize his full NFL potential sooner than later — and in so doing, helps his team break that darned quarterback curse.

Bears to allow Jonathan Owens time off camp to see Simone Biles in Olympics

The Bears are giving safety Jonathan Owens some time off to watch his wife, Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, in Paris this summer.

Training camp is still a few weeks away for the Chicago Bears, but we already know one of their players will be away for a short time for a very important reason.

Safety Jonathan Owens will reportedly miss a few practices in order to see his wife and Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, who is set to lead the United States gymnastics team in Paris later this month. The source? Biles herself.

“The Bears are actually granting him a couple days off from training camp, so he’ll be there, yes,” she told Nancy Armour of USA Today over the weekend. “For just a short little time.”

Owens has been present at Biles’ competitions throughout the pre-Olympics process, including at the Olympic Trials and U.S. Championships, where Biles reigned supreme above the competition.

Biles and the women’s gymnastics team will kick things off with qualifications on July 28. Other notable events include women’s team finals (July 30), women’s all-around final (August 1) and individual apparatus finals (Aug. 3-5).

Meanwhile, the Bears report to training camp on July 19, where their first public practice is slated for July 26.

Cole Kmet talks Caleb Williams’ progress during Bears OTAs

During an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Bears TE Cole Kmet praised Caleb Williams and talked about his progress during OTAs.

Expectations are high for Bears rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, who now carries the weight of decades of Chicago quarterback woes.

But the pressure is nothing new for Williams, who made it clear long before he was drafted by the Bears that he’s looking to rewrite history and leave a lasting impression on the game.

Although, like with anything, it’s going to take time as Williams acclimates from the college to the pro game. But even at this point of the offseason, his new teammates have noticed him making strides.

During an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio, tight end Cole Kmet praised Williams and talked about his progress during OTAs.

“You can see why he’s been so successful thus far in his football career and why he has those types of intangibles to succeed in the NFL,” Kmet said. “I’m really excited for him. He’s been putting in a lot of work and you can see the progress he was making throughout the OTA period.”

Despite Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud’s success during his rookie season, it’s not the norm in the NFL. But if there’s a rookie quarterback who’s in a position to have the kind of success Stroud had last year, it’s Williams.

The Bears have done everything they can to put Williams in a position to succeed, and he enters the league in perhaps the best situation ever for a No. 1 pick QB. Chicago has an arsenal of weapons at his disposal, including receivers DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze, along with an improved offensive line and a potential top-10 defense.

No one’s expecting perfection from Williams right out of the gate, but he’s in a position to do what quarterbacks before him have failed to do: Establish himself as the Bears’ franchise QB.

Will Bears rookie Rome Odunze serve as punt returner in 2024?

Bears rookie Rome Odunze is in contention to be the team’s primary punt returner this season.

There are a lot of things to like about Chicago Bears rookie Rome Odunze. The ninth overall pick is a great receiver that the team hopes can be another great weapon for the offense. 

Of course, a lot of the discourse surrounding Odunze revolves around how he’ll play with fellow rookie Caleb Williams on the offensive side of the ball. With Keenan Allen, DJ Moore, Cole Kmet, and D’Andre Swift around him, he should be able to hit the ground running. Scoring points should be no problem in 2024, as long as Williams does his job well. 

There is another aspect of Odunze’s game that could also help the Bears: his punt return ability, which he showcased briefly during his time at Washington.

“Rome is an every-down player,” Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower said. “Rome’s a first-down player, a second-down player, a third-down player and a fourth-down player. He had three returns on the books and one of those three returns was a house call.”

Despite not having primarily served as a punt returner in college, Odunze is in contention to serve as Chicago’s primary punt returner. Hightower wouldn’t say that Odunze is the favorite for the job, but he’s in the mix. It wouldn’t be shocking at all to see him win that job. 

“He’s in contention, just like everybody else,” Hightower said. “Best man will win, cream rises to the top.”

Odunze isn’t a veteran receiver who is above returning kicks, which would give him chances to make plays and help the team get good field position. If he does that, the confidence could improve his game as a receiver, as well. 

This job, if won, would not be Odunze’s main purpose on the team. They didn’t draft a punt returner ninth overall, they drafted a dynamic receiver, and he figures to benefit working alongside Moore and Allen. However, if Odunze can help the team do both, he would prove to be even more valuable.