2020 Chicago Bears season


The 2020 season will be the Chicago Bears' 101st in the National Football League and their third under head coach Matt Nagy. The Bears will seek to improve upon their 8–8 record from 2019, and make the playoffs for the second time in three seasons. The Bears will also seek to win their first playoff game in 10 years.

Offseason

Organizational changes

On December 31, 2019, offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich, offensive line coach Harry Hiestand, tight ends coach Kevin M. Gilbride, and assistant special teams coach Brock Olivo were fired; the offense had struggled in 2019 as it finished the year ranked 29th. To take Hiestand's place, the Bears hired Juan Castillo on January 5, 2020; Castillo worked with head coach Matt Nagy on the Philadelphia Eagles staff from 2008 to 2012, and he was most recently the offensive line coach and run game coordinator for the Buffalo Bills in 2017 and 2018. Clancy Barone was hired as the tight ends coach on January 9; Barone was the 2018 Minnesota Vikings' offensive line coach after spending the previous season as their tight ends coach.
The remaining positions were filled on January 16 with various changes: Bill Lazor took over as offensive coordinator after last serving the same role in 2017 and 2018 with the Cincinnati Bengals; Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator John DeFilippo was hired as quarterbacks coach; quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone was moved to pass game coordinator; offensive quality control assistant Brian Ginn became assistant special teams coach; defensive assistant Chris Jackson switched to assistant wide receivers coach; and offensive assistant Shane Toub was named defensive quality control coach.

Roster changes

Entering the 2020 offseason, the Bears had 21 players set to become free agents, including two restricted free agents and two exclusive-rights free agents. Free agency officially began on March 18, though teams were not allowed to immediately announce signings due to physical examinations being delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Acquisitions

Shortly after the 2019 season came to an end, the Bears signed wide receivers Reggie Davis, Thomas Ives, and Alex Wesley; tight end Dax Raymond; offensive linemen Dino Boyd and Sam Mustipher; linebacker James Vaughters; and defensive backs Xavier Crawford and Stephen Denmark to reserve/future contracts. All nine players were members of the practice squad in 2019, with Vaughters being the only one to play in the regular season that year. On January 6, tight end Darion Clark was also signed to a reserve/future contract; a former college basketball player, Clark had last played football in high school but participated in the USC Trojans football Pro Day in 2018. Two days later, another reserve contract was signed by safety Kentrell Brice, who started 14 games for the 2018 Green Bay Packers.
On January 29, the Bears signed Calgary Stampeders cornerback Tre Roberson on a two-year deal; the Canadian Football League player won the 106th Grey Cup in 2018 and recorded seven interceptions in 2019. Chicago did not sign another player until February 20 when they added Cleveland Browns tight end Demetrius Harris, who played under Nagy in Kansas City, on a one-year contract.
The Bears began making free agent transactions official on March 26. In addition to re-signing free agents like quarterback Tyler Bray whose practice squad contract expired in January, the team signed tight end Jimmy Graham, cornerback Artie Burns and safety Jordan Lucas. A five-time Pro Bowler, Graham spent the last two seasons with the Packers; Burns was a former first-round draft pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers with four career interceptions; Lucas was a backup for the Kansas City Chiefs as they won Super Bowl LIV. On March 31, the Bears formally traded for Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Nick Foles in exchange for a compensatory fourth-round selection in the 2020 NFL Draft; the Super Bowl LII MVP who worked with Nagy in Philadelphia and Kansas City, Foles' lone season in Jacksonville saw him suffer an injury and make only four starts. A day later, offensive lineman Germain Ifedi and linebacker Robert Quinn signed with the team on one- and five-year deals, respectively; a former first-round draft pick, Ifedi had spent his career with the Seattle Seahawks, while Quinn recorded 11.5 sacks with the 2019 Dallas Cowboys.
On April 3, the team picked up linebacker Barkevious Mingo on a one-year contract; the ex-first rounder spent much of his only season with the Houston Texans on special teams. Two weeks later, former Green Bay Packers offensive lineman Jason Spriggs and Nevada kicker Ramiz Ahmed were signed to one-year deals. On April 28 and 29, Chicago gave one-year deals to defensive tackle John Jenkins and receiver/return specialist Trevor Davis, respectively. Jenkins played eight games for the Bears in 2017, including one start, and recorded eight tackles. Davis played for the Oakland Raiders and Miami Dolphins in 2019 as a receiver and return specialist, including catching four passes for 42 yards in the Raiders' win over the Bears that year.
Safety Tashaun Gipson was signed to a one-year deal on May 1. Released by the Texans earlier in the week, he recorded 51 tackles and three interceptions in 2019 before being placed on injured reserve. Three days later, the Bears added receiver Ted Ginn Jr., also on a one-year agreement; the 13-year veteran caught 30 passes for 421 yards and two touchdowns for the New Orleans Saints in 2019.

Departures

On January 5, guard Kyle Long announced his retirement on Twitter after playing his entire career with the Bears; he struggled with injuries in his later years, including being placed on injured reserve in 2019.
The Bears' first cuts took place on February 21 with receiver Taylor Gabriel and cornerback Prince Amukamara; both players suffered injuries in 2019. Linebacker Leonard Floyd was released on March 17; the former first-round pick recorded 154 tackles, 18.5 sacks, an interception, and three fumble recoveries in four seasons with the Bears, but had just three sacks in 2019.
After free agency began, various Bears players whose contracts expired left for other teams. On March 20, a trio of Bears departed with safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix joining the Dallas Cowboys, while quarterback Chase Daniel and defensive lineman Nick Williams went to the Detroit Lions. In his lone season with the Bears, Clinton-Dix recorded 78 tackles and two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown; as a backup in Chicago, Daniel started three games; Williams recorded six sacks in 2019. A week later, linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski joined the Las Vegas Raiders after recording career bests in tackles, sacks, and pass breakups as a backup in 2019. A pair of Bears in linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis and offensive lineman Cornelius Lucas signed with the Washington Redskins ; Pierre-Louis started three games for Chicago in 2019 as he had a career-high 32 tackles, three pass deflections, and an interception, while Lucas started eight games at tackle and allowed just one sack. Defensive end Aaron Lynch, who recorded six tackles and two sacks in 2019 and had spent the last two seasons in Chicago, joined the Jaguars.
On April 17, tight end Trey Burton was released. Despite recording career bests in receiving in his first year with the Bears in 2018, he struggled with injuries in 2019. Another tight end Dax Raymond was waived ten days later; he spent the 2019 season on the practice squad after catching three passes for 22 yards in the preseason.

NFL Draft

The Bears entered the 2020 NFL Draft with sports outlets generally agreeing they needed help at tight end, offensive line, and defensive back, with quarterback and wide receiver also being positions that could be bolstered. Prior to the draft, the team met with 46 prospects: three such meetings took place at the player's Pro Day on his respective campus, five at the East–West Shrine Bowl, eight at the Senior Bowl, 11 at the NFL Scouting Combine, and 19 conducted virtually; Houston offensive lineman Josh Jones also participated in a private visit with the Bears.
After not having any picks in the first round for the second consecutive year, Chicago used its two second-round selections on Notre Dame tight end Cole Kmet and Utah cornerback Jaylon Johnson. Kmet, who grew up near Chicago and was a Bears fan during his childhood, caught 43 passes for 515 yards and six touchdowns in 2019, while Johnson was named first-team All-Pac-12 Conference and recorded 36 tackles two interceptions during his final year, but fell from his projected first-round draft grade after undergoing surgeries on his shoulders. In the fourth round, the Bears traded their No. 163 selection and a 2021 fourth rounder for the Minnesota Vikings' No. 155 pick, which they used on Tulsa edge rusher Trevis Gipson; in 2019, Gipson led his team in sacks and tackles-for-loss with eight and 15, respectively. A second fifth rounder was used to take Georgia Southern cornerback Kindle Vildor, a 2019 first-team All-Sun Belt Conference member who recorded 27 tackles and two interceptions in his final season. Later in the round, the Bears traded the 196th-, 200th-, and 233rd-overall picks to the Eagles for No. 173 and the seventh-round No. 227. Tulane receiver Darnell Mooney was selected with the 173rd-overall pick; Mooney, who ran a 4.38-second 40-yard dash at the Combine, caught 48 passes for 713 yards in 2019 and ended his college career with 19 receiving touchdowns. The final two selections were consecutive picks in seventh round and were used to take offensive linemen: Colorado tackle Arlington Hambright started 11 games for his school in 2019, while Lachavious Simmons started all four years at Tennessee State at guard and tackle.
After the draft, the Bears signed 11 undrafted free agents: running backs Napoleon Maxwell and Artavis Pierce ; receiver Ahmad Wagner ; guard Dieter Eiselen ; offensive tackle Badara Traore ; defensive tackles Lee Autry and Trevor McSwain ; linebackers Keandre Jones, Ledarius Mack, LaCale London, and Rashad Smith.
The seven draft picks signed four-year contracts on July 21.
Notes
took place at Halas Hall in Lake Forest, Illinois; the Bears had previously held the camp at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais since 2002, but renovations to Halas Hall prompted the move.
The COVID-19 pandemic restricted offseason access to Halas Hall and forced team gatherings like rookie minicamp, which was originally scheduled for May 8–10, to be conducted online via Zoom Video Communications. The offseason program, planned to run from May 18 to June 26, ended early on June 9 to allow players to emphasize physical workouts. When training camp began on July 28, the Bears implemented pandemic safety protocols that included designating head trainer Andre Tucker as infectious control officer and converting a player's lounge into an additional locker room. Full-contact practice may not begin until August 17.
The NFL mandated rosters be reduced to 80 players prior to training camp. On July 22, tight end Ben Braunecker was let go after playing for the Bears for four seasons; he had six receptions for 59 yards and a touchdown before being placed on injured reserve in 2019. Yet another tight end, 2017 second-round draft pick Adam Shaheen, was traded on July 26 to the Miami Dolphins for a 2021 seventh-round selection; linebacker Devante Bond, Brice, and Wesley were released the same day. The Bears released Roberson on July 28 with a non-football injury designation after breaking his foot while training.
The league also introduced a reserve/COVID-19 list and opt-out designation; the former consisted of players who either tested positive for the coronavirus or were recently exposed to an infected person, while the latter allowed players to forgo playing in 2020 for health concerns with their salary rolling over into 2021. Starting nose tackle Eddie Goldman elected to opt out of playing. Among the players placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list were Pierce, Jenkins, and tight end Eric Saubert.

Staff

Current roster

Preseason cancellation

The Bears' preseason schedule was announced on May 7. However, on July 27, in a letter to fans, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell officially announced the cancellation of the entire preseason due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Regular season

Schedule

The Bears' 2020 schedule was announced on May 7, and is subject to change, pending developments in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.