Beyond immediate depth, these selections strategically position the Bears, cultivating future starters and addressing long-term roster needs.
The Chicago Bears may have confused fans somewhat with the picks they made in the 2026 NFL Draft.
At first, the Bears made a pick that made a lot of sense, taking Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman at No. 25. It was interesting to see a safety go that high. Still, the Bears needed help at the other starting safety spot from Coby Bryant.
Chicago then took Iowa center Logan Jones, Stanford tight end Sam Roush, LSU receiver Zavion Thomas, Texas cornerback Malik Muhammad, Arizona State linebacker Keyshaun Elliott and Georgia Tech defensive tackle Jordan Van Den Berg.
At first glance, most of these moves seem to have been made to add depth. The Bears have Garrett Bradbury in place to start at center. Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet are already going to be the starting tight end tandem, much like last season.
Thomas is a return specialist and gadget receiver, but the Bears already have Kalif Raymond on the roster.
The Bears' three starting corners are going to be Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, and Tyrique Stevenson on paper.
Once T.J. Edwards and Noah Sewell are healthy, the Bears will trot them out alongside new addition Devin Bush.
Van Den Berg's speed will set him apart, but he's expected to work his way into the rotation at defensive tackle off the bat.
What if I told you that these picks weren't just made with the present in mind, but the future?
Think about it.
Starting with Jones, there's a chance he beats out Bradbury and starts at some point next season. If not, he can sit behind Bradbury and get some valuable experience that could help him out once the team decides to move on from the former New England Patriots center.
Then, you have Roush. Loveland and Kmet are presumed to be the starters.
However, Kmet's contract with the Bears expires in 2028, per Spotrac. Instead of giving him another contract, the Bears could decide to use Roush at his spot instead. They are two very similar player, and Roush could fit in quite nicely.
Even with a receiver like Thomas, we've seen this from General Manager Ryan Poles before. This offseason, the Bears decided to move on from D.J. Moore for several reasons.
For starters, his contract was massive, and the Bears needed a way to get it off the books. They traded him to the Buffalo Bills and freed up $16.5 million in cap space.
Plus, Moore's production has slowly gone down since he joined Chicago in 2023.
There's another reason that not enough people are talking about, and it's because the Bears had a player like Luther Burden on the roster who is capable of filling his role on the offense.
Even picks like Muhammad, Elliott, and Van Den Berg were made with the future in mind. At the very least, they could serve as reserves and offer valuable depth, or they could give the Bears flexibility in the near future and have an immediate impact.
I did a story earlier this offseason talking about how this draft was the most important of the Poles era. This was because the Bears finally reached the playoffs for the first time since 2020 and needed a way to sustain their success.
One great way to do that is to set yourself up for the future with draft picks, and Poles has done that with nearly all the picks he made last weekend. Building a sustainable roster comes down to finding ample replacements in the draft, and Chicago did that very well.