ESPN highlights Olamide Zaccheaus as a Bears free agent poised for a guaranteed contract, proving depth players can secure lucrative deals.
It's simply impossible for the Chicago Bears to keep everyone from last season's team.
Someone like Kevin Byard, who has become a franchise staple, is set to hit the free agent market in March. He was on a two-year, $15 million deal with the organization.
Jaquan Brisker, Nahshon Wright, Olamide Zaccheaus, Braxton Jones, Andrew Billings, Jonathan Owens and C.J. Gardner-Johnson are the others who will hit free agency if not re-signed.
Theo Benedet was also set to be a free agent, but the Bears are re-signing him for 2026.
Outside of free agents, players like D'Andre Swift and D.J. Moore have been linked to trades. Swift's deal goes until 2027, and Moore has until 2030 before his contract expires.
However, their contracts are worth getting off the books if possible. Moore is on a four-year, $110 million deal. Swift is under a three-year, $24 million contract.
While some players are definitely more valuable than others, there is plenty of room in this league for role players like Zaccheaus. Zaccheaus is a reliable blocker at receiver who has shown he can make plays when needed.
ESPN's Bill Barnwell ranked free agents by position into tiers. He put Zacheaus in the tier of free-agent receivers he believes will get guaranteed money in their new contracts.
Zaccheaus was on a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Bears, with $750K guaranteed. Barnwell predicted that Zaccheaus will earn a contract worth around $2-6 million per year.
However, Spotrac believes his market value is lower than that, valuing him at $1.6 million.
Those are some conflicting numbers when it comes to the kind of deal that Zaccheaus could earn. I would be surprised if he gets anything over $3 million per year in free agency. That doesn't mean that a team wouldn't be willing to overpay for Zaccheaus' services.
This puts the Bears in a tight spot, too. In my opinion, if Zaccheaus is willing to return to the Bears on a deal in the $1-2.5 million range, then they should re-sign.
However, if he demands anything more than that, I would suggest the Bears turn down the offer and look elsewhere for a depth piece at receiver.
There's also not really a need to bring back a player like Zaccheaus when Jahdae Walker proved what he could do in the receiver room at critical points this season.
It'll be interesting to see how much Zaccheaus wants on his new contract and how much the Bears are willing to pay him.