Most NFL players will tell you, “Winning is way less interesting to me than any postseason accolades.” That is, unless the individual award kicks in a salary bonus—then those accolades become very interesting.
Anyhoo, earning an All-Pro nod is either the culmination to a great season, or a decent consolation prize after an 11-loss campaign. Here are four Chicago Bears who could add a nice bullet point to their resumes, and another four who will have to, like every Chicago team ever, wait’ll next year.
Yes: Caleb Williams
As we pundits have said time and again (and again) (and again) this offseason, the sophomore signal caller is set up for success.
Anchored by a couple of newly-arrived former Pro Bowlers in Joe Thuney and Jonah Jackson, the revamped offensive line looks like a top-ten unit, unlike last season’s sieve that let poor Caleb get sacked a historically awful 68 times.
The former Heisman Trophy winner will also have plenty of amped-up receiving help from fellow second-year (potential) jump-maker Rome Odunze, as well as the rookie pass catching duo of tight end Colston Loveland and slot receiver Luther Burden III.
And the Ben Johnson factor won’t hurt. If Chicago’s first-year head coach helped Jared Goff rack up consecutive 4,400-plus-passing-yards seasons while offensive coordinating in Detroit, imagine what he can do with a quarterback who’s, y’know, mobile.
No: D’Andre Swift
In Swift’s defense, it would be difficult for any Bear rusher to garner any postseason awards here in 2025, as the Chicago backfield will be a time-share hell.
We don’t know who Swift’s relief pitcher will be—Roschon Johnson? Kyle Monangai? A free agent signee to come?—but we can be relatively certain that the incumbent starter won’t see enough touches to rack up much beyond 900 rushing yards, give or take.
The fact that Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey, Derrick Henry, Bijan Robinson, and Ashton Jeanty exist won’t help Swift’s cause.
Yes: Joe Thuney
The former Chief has won four Super Bowls, earned three Pro Bowl trips, and landed on two All-Pro teams, so he has a reputation. And reputation matters.
He’s only missed two games in his entire career (!), and was so beastial in 2024 that he finished tenth in voting for Offensive Player of the Year, ahead of Jayden Daniels, Patrick Mahomes, and Amon-Ra St. Brown, so even if he has a slightly off-year, he’s still on the voters’ radar. And, to reiterate, that matters.
Thuney—who crushed it in an Andy Reid playbook—will thrive in a Ben Johnson scheme, and it’ll be a thrill to watch.
No: Braxton Smith
Jones’ fifth-rounder-from-small-school-makes-good story is heartwarming and all, but it isn’t winning Chicago many football games.
The 26-year-old is coming off of ankle surgery, and it looks like the Bears drafted his replacement in Boston College behemoth Ozzy Trapilo, all of which could lead to a back-up role that has Jones playing ten-ish snaps a game.
It was a good run for the Southern Utah product, but reality caught up to him.
Yes: Jaylon Johnson
Speaking of reputation, did Johnson really deserve his Pro-Bowl spot last year?
Well, he had two less interceptions than the previous season, while playing three more games. On the other hand, he had 17 more tackles and seven tackles-for-loss. But this was all as part of a defense that allowed the sixth-most yards in the NFL (6,023)., so who knows what to think.
Despite the sometimes-problematic numbers, J.J. earned the postseason award votes in part because voters have become used to voting for him. And being that he’s the best player in Chicago’s defensive backfield—hell, he might be the best pure football player on the roster—that should continue.
No: Kevin Byard III
Byard quietly had one helluva 2024, finishing the season ranked 16th in the NFL in tackles with 130. Admittedly, when your safety leads your team in tackles, that’s an indictment on your defensive front…but this year’s D-line is vastly improved (see below), thus opponents, in theory, will generate fewer explosive plays, thus giving Byard fewer tackle opportunities.
Plus, dude’ll be 32 by the time the season starts, and outside of a freak of nature like Charles Woodson, rarely do you see a 32-year-old safety land on the All-Pro team.
Yes: Grady Jarrett
Jarrett is also about to kick off his year-32 season, and his numbers have been trending downwards since 2021. He’s been effective, sure, yet far from elite.
But there’s a reason Chicago signed the former Atlanta Falcon minutes after he was cut in March, that reason likely being that new defensive coordinator Dennis Allen thinks he’ll thrive in his scheme.
Allen knows his stuff, so don’t be at all surprised if the (hopefully) rejuvenated tackle tops his career-high in sacks (7.5) and hears his name called on All-Pro announcement day.
No: Montez Sweat
Washington Commanders radio play-by-play man Bran Weinstein told me that Sweat is, “…a really good, really high end EDGE, but the numbers don't always show it.”
Since postseason award voters can’t see all 272 regular season NFL games, they have to rely on numbers. And if the numbers aren’t there, the votes won’t be there. Sorry, Tez.
-1747414677-q80.webp "Mitchell Johnson wages war with BCCI; instigates Australian players against IPL")
