Bears Begin Their Defensive Overhaul In Free Agency

GOOD MORNING, CHICAGO FANS

I hope everyone is staying safe from the storms!

It was an electric week of trash talk from Matas Buzelis and Connor Bedard. Chicago’s young stars don’t back down from anyone! Meanwhile, the Bears’ free agent frenzy turned over a good portion of the roster, and the Hawks actually pulled off a season sweep of the Mammoth!

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

W - BLACKHAWKS 3 MAMMOTH 2 (F/OT)

91 WINNER FOR 19

• On a night honoring the late Troy Murray, Frank Nazar scored the overtime winner shortly after losing the puck on a breakaway

• Andre Burakovsky scored his first goal since January 7th, and Andrew Mangiapane scored his first goal as a Blackhawk

• Connor Bedard was everywhere! He had 2 assists, 5 shots on goal, and was robbed by Vitek Vanecek many times

W - BLACKHAWKS 3 MAMMOTH 2 (F/OT)

BEDARD VS. FAN

• Bedard trash talked a Mammoth fan throughout the game and scored the overtime winner after Alex Vlasic hit the post

• Nazar scored his 3rd goal in 4 games off a sweet soccer kick pass from Teuvo Teravainen

• Spencer Knight returned from illness, stopped 29 of 31 shots, and was incredible in overtime

L - GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4 BLACKHAWKS 0

ROYAL FLUSH

• Knights obliterated the Hawks in every aspect of this game and jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the 1st period

• An Artyom Levshunov goal was disallowed because of a hand pass

• Knights scored 2 power play goals against the typically stout Hawks PK

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Connor Bedard

1 goal and 3 assists (4 points) on 9 shots

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Andre Burakovsky “mini lacrosse” goal

NHL Global Series: The Blackhawks will play in Düsseldorf, Germany for 2 regular season games vs. the Ottawa Senators on Dec. 18th and 20th, 2026!

Oliver Moore may miss the rest of the season with a lower body injury

Blackhawks swept the season series (4 games) vs. the Mammoth

Sacha Boisvert is expected to sign with the Blackhawks in-person in Chicago today! He will hopefully debut with the team within the next week.

Assigned Drew Commesso to the AHL

SCHEDULE 📅 T/TH/F/SUN

CHICAGO BULLS

W - BULLS 130 WARRIORS 124 (F/OT)

THE MATAS BUZELIS GAME

• Matas Buzelis scored 41 points on 16/28 shooting - joining Michael Jordan and Elton Brand as the only Bulls to score 40+ points at 21 years old or younger

• Josh Giddey tied his career-high with 17 assists and had another triple-double (21p/17a/13r) while 3 Bulls had double-doubles

• Streaky game - both teams had crazy runs, including 2 separate 18-2 runs by the Warriors

L - LAKERS 142 BULLS 130

BOYS 2 MEN

• Lakers bullied the Bulls and scored at will, especially in their 41-point 2nd and 3rd quarters

• Luka Doncic nearly had a 50-point triple-double (51p/10r/9a) and kept taunting Matas Buzelis after big baskets

• Josh Giddey (27p/8r/15a) tried to match Luka shot for shot and made a career-high 6 3PTs

L - CLIPPERS 119 BULLS 108

KAWHI LINE

• Kawhi Leonard scored 28 points with 10/12 FT as the Clippers played a clean game and dominated in the paint

• Tre Jones led the Bulls with 21 points on an efficient 10/11 shooting night

• 7 Bulls scored in double figures

STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐ Josh Giddey

22.6p/10.6r/14.0a per game, 2 triple-doubles, 1 double-double

PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥 Yuki Kawamura alley-oop to Matas Buzelis

Josh Giddey recorded his 29th career triple-double, which surpassed Michael Jordan for 19th-most in NBA history

SCHEDULE 📅 M/W/TH

CHICAGO BEARS

OFFSEASON

FREE AGENCY

Signed S Coby Bryant to a 3-year, $40M contract ($25.75M guarantee)

• Won the Super Bowl last season with the Seahawks

Signed LB Devin Bush to a 3-year, $30M contract ($21M guarantee)

• Had a career year for the Browns last season

Signed WR Kalif Raymond to a 1-year, $5.1M contract

• Played for Ben Johnson with the Lions

• Amon-Ra St. Brown on X: “Greatest teammate I’ve ever had.”

Signed DB Cam Lewis to a 2-year contract

• Played safety and slot corner for the Bills

Signed DL Kentavius Street to a 1-year contract

• Played with Thuney and Bradbury at NC State

Signed DT Neville Gallimore to a 2-year, $12M contract

• Played for the Colts last season

Signed OT Jedrick Wills Jr. to a 1-year contract

• Former 1st round pick who did not play in 2025 due to injury

• Tore ligaments in his knees but also had to get surgery to realign his femur

Re-signed LB D’Marco Jackson to a 2-year, $7.5M contract

Re-signed OT Braxton Jones to a 1-year, $5M contract

Re-signed QB Case Keenum to a 2-year, $5.5M contract

Re-signed S Elijah Hicks to a 1-year contract

Re-signed G Jordan McFadden to a 1-year contract

Re-signed CB Jaylon Jones to a 1-year contract

GOODBYE, OLD FRIENDS 👋

Tremaine Edmunds signed with the New York Giants (3 years, $36M)

Kevin Byard signed with the New England Patriots (1 year, $9M)

Jaquan Brisker signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers (1 year, $5.5M)

C.J. Gardner-Johnson signed with the Buffalo Bills

Nahshon Wright signed with the New York Jets

Jonathan Owens signed with the Indianapolis Colts

Olamide Zaccheaus signed with the Atlanta Falcons

Dominique Robinson signed with the Houston Texans

Chris Williams signed with the Atlanta Falcons

Durham Smythe signed with the Baltimore Ravens

Devin Duvernay signed with the Arizona Cardinals

Get hyped for Round 2 of a Braxton Jones / Theo Benedet / [3rd player] left tackle competition with Jedrick Wills joining the battle this season

Maxx Crosby to the Ravens FELL THROUGH. The Ravens backed out of the trade when Crosby failed his physical…he’s saying he’s a Raider…but could the Bears still entice them with a trade offer?

NFL released its list of 2026 compensatory draft picks - the Bears did NOT receive any for losing Ian Cunningham to the Falcons

Vikings signed Kyler Murray to compete with JJ McCarthy at QB

CHICAGO CUBS

OFFSEASON

SPRING TRAINING & WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC

• Pete Crow-Armstrong almost singlehandedly pulled off a comeback for Team USA vs. Italy in the World Baseball Classic. He hit 2 HRs to bring them within 2!

• Seiya Suzuki injured his knee on a slide and will be evaluated with the Cubs today

• White Sox took an early 1-0 Crosstown Classic series lead when Kyle Teel and Sam Antonacci both homered for Italy against PCA and Team USA

• USA (Bregman, PCA) will play in the WBC Championship tomorrow night vs. either Italy or Venezuela (Daniel Palencia)!

• In Matt Shaw’s quest to be the ultimate super utility player this season, he saw some time at 1B

• Nico Hoerner has 2 HRs this spring and is up to a 1.087 OPS

• Cubs are 9-13 in Spring Training

Matthew Boyd will be the Opening Day Starter!

Reds will be without their ace, Hunter Greene, until July due to elbow surgery

Opening Day ➡️ 3/26 @ 1:20pm

SAY WHAT?

A CITYWIDE SALUTE

DJ Moore

DJ always represented Chicago well, and he was still as classy as ever on his way to Buffalo. He sent Ryan Poles’ son a video telling him to not be mad at his dad for trading DJ away. For a player who will miss Chicago and probably wanted to be a part of this rising team, that was an impressive gesture! Watch Poles speak on it here:

MILD TAKE

The Bears losing 5 defensive backs is exciting.

You can expect change when all 4 safeties on the roster are free agents when the offseason begins. I didn’t expect this much change!

The Bears lost 2 cornerbacks (Nahshon Wright, C.J. Gardner-Johnson) and 3 safeties (Kevin Byard, Jaquan Brisker, Jonathan Owens) in the first week of free agency.

It’s fair to worry about the vacant starting spots opposite of Jaylon Johnson and next to the newly acquired Coby Bryant, but the offseason is still young. We don’t know if they’ll have surefire upgrades in the defensive backfield in Week 1, but change can only be good after a season where the pass defense was unintimidating (22nd in the NFL in passing yards/game).

Byard was a star last season and an important voice in the locker room. Wright was a takeaway machine. Gardner-Johnson made a ton of impact plays when filling in for Kyler Gordon. Brisker played the game of his life against the Rams in the playoffs.

Nobody will be easy to replace, but the Bears defense was so unsuccessful that change was necessary. They might be pulling a GarPax with a younger and more athletic secondary. And I’m all for it.

HITTING THE LINKS

Mark Lazerus - Mammoth fan who taunted Connor Bedard then drew his ire: ‘I kinda deserved it’ (The Athletic)

Ben Pope - How the Blackhawks' leadership and vibe have changed without Nick Foligno (Chicago Sun-Times)

Sean Hammond - Chicago Bears saw ‘the right fit’ in Garrett Bradbury to replace Drew Dalman’s veteran presence at center (Chicago Tribune)

Scott Powers - Could the Blackhawks take another defenseman early in the 2026 NHL Draft? (The Athletic)

TWO MINUTE WARNING

Thanks for reading! Get ready for the PCA game-winning home run in the WBC!