As the Chicago Bears wrap up their 2026 preseason against the Tennessee Titans, final roster spots are on the line. Here is a projection of the Bears' 53-man roster.
The Chicago Bears will close out their 2026 preseason against the Tennessee Titans on Saturday at Nissan Stadium.
Head coach Ben Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles will then assess the roster to determine who makes the team's 53-man roster. That decision must be made on Aug. 30 at 5 p.m. CT.
Most position groups are already solidified, but there are a few players who could make those final spots in question really interesting, especially with good performances in Thursday's joint practice against the Titans and the preseason finale.
Here is my projected Bears' 53-man roster.
Quarterbacks: (3)
Caleb Williams, Tyson Bagent, Case Keenum
No need for a deep dive here. Only topic to monitor is Tyson Bagent's hamstring injury. Johnson called the injury week-to-week.
Running Backs: (3)
D'Andre Swift, Kyle Monangai, Roschon Johnson
This final spot easily could've gone to Salvon Ahmed, especially because of the burst he has displayed in the open field in practices and in the preseason. However, the third running back has to standout on special teams. Roschon has the advantage there.
This Bears' head coach had this to say about Roschon after Saturday's preseason game against the Bengals.
"Yeah, I mean, I think he flashed the other day in particular on special teams, and we just keep talking about that and the importance of being the number three running back or depth in the running back room and being able to bring that to the table," Johnson said. "So, he had a couple of really nice plays in the practice. Can't wait to see what it looked like today on the game tape because we talked about would love to see some of these players stack good performances back-to-back. He's a candidate that have may have done that tonight."
Wide Receivers: (5)
Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, Kalif Raymond, Jahdae Walker, Zavion Thomas
The five players were a lock to make this roster. The question was would the Bears elect to keep six receivers. That player would have been Kaden Davis. He's made plays in training camp and in the preseason games.
His spot went to a tight end, who has also quietly put together some quality snaps on tape.
Tight Ends: (4)
Cole Kmet, Colston Loveland, Sam Roush, Hayden Large
The Bears were always going to keep three tight ends, but I believe Hayden Large fills several roles for this team: backup tight end, full back, all-phase special teamer.
Check out this film breakdown of Large against the Bengals. Maybe this will convince you that he should make the Bears' 53-man roster.
Offensive lineman: (10)
Braxton Jones, Joe Thuney, Garrett Bradbury, Jonah Jackson, Darnell Wright, Ozzy Trapilo, Theo Benedet, Logan Jones, Luke Newman, Jordan McFadden
I went back and fourth about the offensive tackle position. Specifically, would the Bears keep Kiran Amegadjie or Jedrick Wills Jr. Poles selected Amegadjie in the third round in 2024 out of Yale. Wills is a former first-round pick.
They have haven't done anything to solidify themselves for a roster spot. This changes if Trapilo isn't ready for the season. The Chicago Tribune's Brad Biggs wrote in his column that his "hunch is the Bears will move Trapilo to injured reserve either simultaneous to forming the 53-man roster or right after."
We'll officially know next Sunday at 5 p.m. CT.
Defensive Lineman: (10)
Montez Sweat, Grady Jarrett, Gervon Dexter Sr., Dayo Odeyingbo, Austin Booker, Daniel Hardy, Neville Gallimore, Kentavius Street, Jordan van den Berg, Marcus Davenport
I tried to find a way to keep James Lynch on this roster. I think he has played well in the preseason and he does provide position flexibility. Street played in place of Jarrett in Saturday's preseason game against the Bengals. That's a good indication of where he stands on the roster.
Van den Berg may have not been a lock a month ago to make the team, but he has shown plenty of flashes since training camp has started.
Linebackers: (5)
T.J. Edwards, Devin Bush, D'Marco Jackson, Jack Sanborn, Ruben Hyppolite II
This group would have been more interesting if rookie Keyshaun Elliott was healthy. He is still on the PUP list. Poles said on July 28 that Elliott was dealing with back pain, but had been running and is in "really good shape."
Clearly, the rookie from Arizona State isn't healthy enough to play just yet.
Hyppolite has flashes, at times, showing his speed, something the defense wanted to add going into the 2026 season.
Cornerbacks: (6)
Jaylon Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson, Malik Muhammad, Josh Blackwell, Jaylon Jones, Terell Smith
With Kyler Gordon's timeline uncertain at this point, I couldn't give him a roster spot right now. He could be a candidate to go on the reserve/PUP list and would have to miss at least the first four regular-season games. Muhammad has a real shot of starting Week 1 against the Carolina Panthers.
Manning had a tough outing in the preseason loss against the Bengals. Smith hasn't been available because of injury, which doesn't help his case to make the team. However, I think he has more upside than Manning.
Smith needs to participate in the joint practice against the Titans and play in the preseason finale to earn a roster spot.
Safety: (4)
Dillon Thieneman, Xavier Woods, Cam Lewis, Skyler Thomas
There has been a revolving door at safety this summer. Coby Bryant will miss four to six months with a knee injury, and there hasn't been update on Elijah Hicks, who is still on PUP with a shin injury.
Thomas has benefited from all the injuries in the secondary and makes my 53-man roster.
Special Teams: (3)
Cairo Santos, Tory Taylor, Beau Gardner
The Bears will enter the 2026 season with a rookie long snapper. Gardner beat out Luke Elkin for the spot.
