Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles has overseen a youth movement for his team ever since taking over in 2022, and while the last three years have all been losing records, Poles' directional change is expected to finally pay off in 2025. Many fans and analysts are picking the Bears to be one of the league's most dangerous teams, and they'd be doing it with the 16th youngest roster in the NFL.
The Bears are heading into the 2025 season with an average roster age of just 25.55 years old, according to Anthony Cardenas of SportsCasting. While 16th isn't all that close to the top, the age difference itself is minimal. The youngest team once again is Chicago's archrival, the Green Bay Packers. Their roster has an average age of 24.80 years old. That places them 15 spots above the Bears, but with an average age difference of just three-fourths of a year.
As for the rest of the NFC North, the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions are going into 2025 with older-than-average rosters. The Vikings check in at 21st overall with an average age of 25.68 years, while the Lions' roster is 25.84 years old, good for 27th in the league.
This is going to be a critical year for the Packers' young squad. 2024 was quite the regression for the team and specifically their quarterback, Jordan Love. They did make the playoffs but got smoked by the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round. If 2025 is another year of beating up on bad teams while losing to good ones (the Packers went a combined 1-8 against the Lions, Vikings, Bears, and Eagles), being the youngest team in the league will no longer be a bragging point.
As for the Lions, their Super Bowl window is in peril of closing after coming within 30 minutes of winning the 2023 NFC Championship Game. With an aging roster and having just lost their two hotshot coordinators, one to a division rival, the future could turn bleak in a hurry. The Vikings, meanwhile, could very well make a deep playoff run, but starting what is essentially a rookie quarterback in J.J. McCarthy makes it difficult to project anything for them.
It's probably a good thing that Chicago's roster is not the youngest in the NFL. While the hype around Ben Johnson is justified as far as play-calling goes, he's still a rookie head coach. He has a lot more on his plate than he's used to and is already tasked with coaching up a young, second-year quarterback brimming with potential.
Having a roster that's league-average in terms of age means he'll have veteran players he can trust to take charge of their position groups and keep everyone focused on the goal of winning football games. This would be guys like Jaylon Johnson, Cole Kmet, and the recently signed Joe Thuney.
It may not be the youngest roster in the division, but it seems to have the best mix of youth and experienced leadership. If Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams live up to expectations, the Bears could very well win their first division title since 2018.
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