Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards are still in place with the Bears ahead of the 2025 campaign. They will retain their spots in the starting lineup at the linebacker spot, but it remains to be seen who will join them in that capacity. 
Edmunds inked a four-year, $72MM pact in 2023, cashing in considerably after playing out his rookie pact with the Bills. Edwards landed a three-year deal that same offseason, and the former Eagle received a two-year, $20MM extension last month. Expectations will remain high for the duo moving forward, but Jack Sanborn‘s departure has left notable snaps in need of being replaced.
“That third spot, it’s up for grabs,” head coach Ben Johnson said when speaking to the media about the other first-team linebacker gig (via Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune). “[Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen] has got a prototype for what that Sam would look like. We’re more concerned, let’s find our third best linebacker and we’ll figure it out from there.”
No outside moves were made at the position during free agency, but Chicago added a rookie in the form of fourth-rounder Ruban Hyppolite during the draft. The Maryland product will look to carve out at least a special teams role while the likes of Noah Sewell, Amen Ogbongbemiga and Swayze Bozeman aim to land a full-time starting gig. No member of that trio has experience in such a role at the NFL level.
Sanborn, who joined the Cowboys this offseason, never handled a defensive snap share above 39% during his three years in Chicago. Still, he logged nearly 1,000 total snaps over that span and served as a special teams mainstay in 2024. Replacing his production in both regards will see the team’s internal options compete over the course of training camp.
The Bears may end up looking outside the organization at some point, but for now they sit near the bottom of the league with $6.76MM in cap space. A move made via trade or free agency could target a low-cost starting candidate, although a path exists for at least one in-house linebacker to lay claim to a starting gig before it is considered.
Historically the Bears were that team that always had an elite linebacker. We’re talking HOF caliber guys like Butkus, Singletary and Urlacher…what happened?
they had Roquan Smith but Poles traded him for …a 2nd rounder.
They traded him to the Ravens for peanuts because they didn’t want to pay him and he didn’t “fit” Eberflus’ system.
True Roquan didn’t fit Eberlose’s system. He was good. You need to bend but don’t break to play for Eberlose.
Let’s not forget Otis Wilson, Wilbur Marshall, Lance Briggs, Roosevelt Colvin..
Edmunds is overpaid. Edwards has been a stud. Why let Sanborn leave and create another need?
Sanborn is red zone only because he can’t cover. limited player. I think Bears are looking for more versatility.
Hyppolite was drafted for one reason. he’s tremendously fast. He can run with RB’s and TE’s in coverage. Edwards and Sanborn cannot. That was Dennis Allen’s pick for sure. If you’re going to attack the offense, Something that was beyond Eberlose’s imagination, You need people that can cover 1 on 1. From what I heard from Rookie camp the plan is for him to cover WR’s in some cases. I wouldn’t call that a great plan but hey I trust Allen way more than Eberlose.