The Bears’ roster stayed fairly consistent, with the same general core of players from 2018-20, but this offseason began to change that. Longtime starters like Kyle Fuller, Charles Leno, Bobby Massie, and Mitchell Trubisky were sent packing, and Justin Fields’ arrival in the draft represented the dawn of a new (and hopefully more successful) era.
The team will look a bit different on the field in 2021, but many of the 2018-20 core remains. Next offseason, however, will see greater roster flexibility (and thus likely greater roster turnover) than Chicago has had in a while.
To begin with, the following projected Bears starters are scheduled to be free agents in 2022:
- QB Andy Dalton
- WR Allen Robinson
- WR Anthony Miller
- TE Jimmy Graham
- C Sam Mustipher
- RG James Daniels
- RT Germain Ifedi
- DE Akiem Hicks
- DE Bilal Nichols
- CB Desmond Trufant
- S Tashaun Gipson
That’s a total of 11 starters – 7 on offense, 4 on defense.