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Bears Open Practice Window For LB Amen Ogobongbemiga

October 16th, 2025 at 4:00pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

The Bears have opened Amen Ogbongbemiga‘s practice window, per Marquee Sports Network’s Scott Bair.

The linebacker and special teams ace landed on injured reserve before the regular season with a knee injury. He returned to practice on thursday as a limited participant.

Ogbongbemiga, 27, is in his fifth NFL season and his second in Chicago. He entered the league as an undrafted free agent with the Chargers in 2021 and quickly carved out a spot on special teams. He signed with the Bears in 2024 and impressed enough to earn another two-year deal in free agency earlier this offseason.

Upon his return, Ogbongbemiga will likely return to a core special teams role, as he only has 144 defensive snaps in his career. The Bears do not necessarily need the boost – their special teams grade of 86.6 from Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranks seventh in the NFL – but he will add more experience to their coverage and return units.

Ogbongbemiga will have 21 days to practice with the Bears before he must be activated from injured reserve to the 53-man roster. Otherwise, he will revert to injured reserve for the rest of the season.

OL Charles Leno Announces Retirement

October 14th, 2025 at 5:15pm CST by Connor Byrne

After 10 seasons in the NFL, offensive tackle Charles Leno is hanging up his cleats. In an Instagram post that’s worth reading in full, Leno announced his retirement on Wednesday, exactly two years after he and his wife lost their daughter on Oct. 14, 2023.

Leno entered the NFL as a seventh-round pick from Boise State in 2014 and went on to enjoy a quality career. He spent his first seven seasons in Chicago, where he started in 94 of 102 regular-season appearances. Leno earned the lone Pro Bowl nod of his career with the Bears in 2018.

While Leno inked a four-year, $38MM extension with the Bears in 2017, he didn’t see the whole deal through. Chicago released Leno in a cap-shedding move in May 2021. That came after Leno started 93 consecutive games at left tackle with the team.

After his time with the Bears ended, Leno landed in Washington on a one-year, $5MM pact. The club was so impressed with Leno’s work during a 17-start 2021 campaign that it re-signed him to a three-year, $37.5MM deal. Leno notched another 17-start season in 2022, but a calf injury limited him to 13 games (all starts) in 2023. With Leno set to undergo hip surgery in 2024, the Commanders released him after a 47-start tenure. He didn’t catch on anywhere else after that.

Leno’s career will officially end with 149 regular-season games, 141 starts, and over $61MM in career earnings. He also received recognition for his off-field work, earning a Walter Payton Man of the Year nomination, among other accolades.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/13/25

October 13th, 2025 at 7:29pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Here are the latest moves from around the NFL,including practice squad elevations for all four teams playing on Monday Night Football:

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

  • Signed off Ravens’ practice squad: S J.T. Gray

Indianapolis Colts

Kansas City Chiefs

New England Patriots

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

  • Waived: OL Isaac Alarcon

Washington Commanders

The Bears elevated Moody to kick in their Monday night matchup with the Commanders with Cairo Santos sidelined by a quad injury.

Bears Officially Make LT Switch

October 11th, 2025 at 9:45pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Caleb Williams has a new blind side protector coming out of the Bears’ Week 5 bye. Head coach Ben Johnson announced (via The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain) that second-year offensive lineman Theo Benedet will start at left tackle on Monday against the Commanders.

Benedet started at right tackle in Week 4 against the Raiders with Darnell Wright nursing an elbow injury. Partway through the game, Johnson flipped Benedet to left tackle to replace Braxton Jones and inserted rookie Ozzy Trapilo on the right side. Chicago’s offense did not roar to life as Johnson may have hoped, but they were able to hold on for a 25-24 win in Las Vegas.

Benedet apparently performed well enough to hang onto the left tackle job, despite poor grades from Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Jones also dealt with an ankle injury this offseason and may not have gotten all the way back to 100% before the season starter, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. Though he has not popped up on the injury report, some rest may still be necessary to get him back to full strength, as his play has taken a hit relative to previous seasons.

In the meantime, the Bears will move forward with Benedet, who played college football in Canada for the University of British Columbia before arriving in Chicago as an undrafted free agent in 2024. He spent his first season on the practice squad and emerged as a surprising factor in the Bears’ left tackle competition during training camp this past summer.

It will be very interesting to see if Jones gets a chance to win his job back, as it is a contract year for the 2022 fifth-round pick. He was a rare Day 3 draftee to start at left tackle as a rookie, but regime change always brings roster turnover. The Bears can hold onto Benedet through the 2027 season, and both Trapilo and Kiran Amegadjie could be long-term options at left tackle. That would make it difficult to justify re-signing Jones after the season, especially if Chicago intends to hang onto Wright, their 2023 first-round pick.

Bears CB Kyler Gordon To Play In Week 6

October 11th, 2025 at 6:46pm CST by Adam La Rose

Coming off their bye week, the Bears will find themselves in a better position on the health front than their previous game. Most notably, cornerback Kyler Gordon is set to make his season debut on Monday.

Gordon has dealt with a hamstring injury since training camp, and he missed each of Chicago’s first four games as a result. The recently-extended cover man was a full participant in practice today, however, and he is not listed on the Bears’ injury report. Gordon will thus make his first regular season appearance of the year against the Commanders in Week 6.

Chicago’s secondary has been without Jaylon Johnson for essentially the entire campaign. He is currently on injured reserve while recovering from surgery after suffering a groin injury during his Week 2 debut. Johnson could return to action late in the year, but for the foreseeable future he will remain unavailable. That makes Gordon’s health particularly important.

The 25-year-old was a high priority this past offseason with respect to his contract situation. It came as no surprise when a long-term pact was worked out in April. Gordon landed a three-year, $40MM extension, cementing his status as a core member of Chicago’s defense moving forward and making him the latest slot corner to land an eight-figure AAV. Gordon was tapped as a candidate to see time on the outside in 2025, and with Johnson out of the picture it will be interesting to see if defensive coordinator Dennis Allen follows through with his summer plan on that front.

In other Bears injury news, linebacker T.J. Edwards is also back to full strength after suffering his own hamstring ailment. Edwards exited Week 2 as a result of the injury and he missed the following two games. When Chicago takes on Washington, though, the second level of the team’s defense as well as its secondary will have a key figure back in the fold.

Traded Draft Picks For 2026

October 8th, 2025 at 8:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

Many months remain before teams know where they are picking in the 2026 draft, but many clubs have made moves to acquire 2026 draft capital. Headlined by the Browns, Rams and Cowboys’ efforts, here are the 2026 picks to have changed hands thus far. When more deals involving picks are made (or conditions on moves already completed become known), that information will be added.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/7/25

October 7th, 2025 at 7:18pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are Tuesday’s minor NFL moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Chicago Bears

Indianapolis Colts

The Falcons and Bears have opened the 21-day practice windows for three injured reserve players today. All three will have the next three weeks in which they can participate in practice until they are completely cleared and able to be activated off of IR at any time during that window. If they fail to be activated after 21 days, they will revert to IR and will not be eligible to be activated to the active roster again this season.

Technically, Graham and Homer were already designated to return in the preseason. At the roster cut deadline, each team can designate two players on IR to be eligible to return after missing at least four games of the regular season. Any other players on IR when the initial 53-man roster is set will not be eligible to return to the roster during that year. Graham and Homer were both one of those designations for their respective teams.

Booker, on the other hand, was placed on IR after the roster cut deadline and has just now been designated to return. The protocol from here on out for each player will be the same.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/27/25

September 27th, 2025 at 6:34pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are Saturday’s minor moves and standard gameday practice squad elevations:

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

With Colts cornerback Kenny Moore presumed to potentially miss a few weeks, the recent signee, Hilton, will get his opportunity to supplement the team’s secondary. He may be able to earn an official spot on the 53-man roster with an impactful game. Similarly, Cropper may be able to get into his first NFL game since going undrafted in 2023 as he gets elevated to a receiving corps that will sorely miss CeeDee Lamb.

Morris is getting called up for the third time for Jacksonville. If the Jaguars intend for him to appear in another game after this week, they’ll need to sign him to the 53-man roster.

Bears CB Jaylon Johnson Could Return During 2025 Season

September 23rd, 2025 at 5:51pm CST by Adam La Rose

Early in his season debut in Week 2, Jaylon Johnson suffered a groin injury after missing considerable training camp time with a different one. Shortly after going down, it became clear the Bears’ top corner could miss the remainder of the season.

The door is open to a return late in the campaign, though. Johnson is expected to finalize plans for core muscle surgery this week, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports. Head coach Ben Johnson confirmed that is the case (h/t ESPN’s Courtney Cronin) while adding a return late in the campaign could be possible.

Losing Johnson has dealt a major blow to the Bears’ secondary, and he remains on track to miss at least the bulk of Chicago’s remaining schedule. The unit has also been without star nickel Kyler Gordon so far this season due to a hamstring injury. Their replacements – Nahshon Wright on the boundary and Nick McCloud in the slot – have given up four touchdowns and more than 300 yards when targeted in their first three games, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

Getting their starting cornerbacks back on the field as soon as possible would be a significant boost to a struggling defense. The Bears sit 28th in points allowed under Dennis Allen and 29th in total defense. Gordon should return to the field well before Johnson, though the Bears may take a cautious approach and hold him out until after their Week 5 bye. Johnson will take much longer, and if the Bears are out of playoff contention when he’s ramping up, the risk of re-injury might not be worth a few appearances at the end of the season.

Nikhil Mehta contributed to this post.

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