Bears' draft priority list: 1. Defense; 2. Defense; 3. Defense.

With Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams in place after a rebuild-validating 11-6 season that included a playoff victory over the Packers, the Bears are in better shape for a run of sustained success — three consecutive playoff or winning seasons by my standard — since the Ditka era.

But as fate would have it at Halas Hall, the Bears have had a somewhat rocky offseason for a team with the wind at its back:

• Center Drew Dalman suddenly retired at the peak of his career at 27.

• Left tackle Ozzy Trapilo's ruptured patellar tendon appears more complicated and even the Bears' own trepidation is giving off Marc Colombo vibes. Trapilo likely won't return until the second half of the season if at all, and it remains to be seen if he'll be the same player/prospect whenever he returns.

• The Bears failed to get two third-round draft picks as compensation for the Falcons hiring Ian Cunningham as their GM, with the NFL stubbornly adhering to the letter of the law and breaking the spirit of the NFL's initiative to promote minority advancement.

• The Bears enter the 2026 draft with their top needs at positions general manager Ryan Poles addressed last season — defensive end (Dayo Odeyingbo), defensive tackle (Grady Jarrett, Shemar Turner) and left tackle (Trapilo).

• The Bears' other top need in the draft is at safety — a position that should have been set with Kevin Byard named to the All-Pro team and Jaquan Brisker playing all 19 games after having concussion issues in his first three NFL seasons.

The hole at safety is actually the most curious one. Injuries to Odeyingbo, Turner and Trapilo played at least a part in the holes at defensive end, defensive tackle and left tackle. But safety was a position of strength in 2025. And both Byard (Patriots) and Brisker (Steelers) — somewhat surprisingly — signed modest one-year contracts, so it's not like either was unaffordable, like Adrian Amos signing with the Packers (four years, $36 million) in 2019.

The Bears signed former Seahawks safety Coby Bryant (three years, $40 million) in free agency. They also signed former Bills safety Cam Lewis (two years, $6 million) in free agency, but they could address the spot opposite Bryant in the draft.

The safety situation (among others) is an apparent nod to defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, whose defense in 2026 was spotty overall but covered up deficiencies with a league-high 33 takeaways. Allen's success as an NFL defensive coordinator has earned him the right to find scheme-specific players. But it has put Poles in the position of losing some of his bigger hits as GM — the free-agency signing of Byard and defensive tackle Andrew Billings; drafting Brisker in the second round in 2022. Even cornerback Nahshon Wright, who made the Pro Bowl with five interceptions in Allen's defense in 2026, was let go — signing a modest, if not meager one-year, $5.5 million deal with the Jets.

And that doesn't include Poles' first big splash in free agency as the Bears' GM — linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, who generally was productive in his three seasons with the Bears, but never justified the four-year, $72 million contract he signed in 2023. He's gone, too — signing a three-year, $36 million contract with the Giants after the Bears released him in a salary-cap move.

Usually it's not a good thing when a GM gives up on or loses players he fairly recently acquired — especially players who were on the "hit" side of his ledger (you can include wide receiver DJ Moore in that as well). But give credit to Poles for setting aside his ego and putting his faith in Ben Johnson and Allen to win with their guys.

Johnson and his offense make just about every offensive acquisition a winner (Joe Thuney, Dalman, Jonah Jackson, Colston Loveland, Luther Burden, Trapilo and Kyle Monangai in 2025). Allen doesn't have quite the same touch. Odeyingbo and Turner were unproductive before their injuries (though both still have a chance to be put in the "win" column); Jarrett made plays late but underperformed overall; but fill-ins Wright, DeMarco Jackson and C.J. Gardner-Johnson (at the start) were productive. But Allen will get his chance in Year 2 to match Ben Johnson's success. If he just comes close, it'll be a win for Ryan Poles.

That's why the Bears figure to go heavy on defense in this week's draft and almost certainly at No. 25 in the first round. If there's an offensive player who can have a Tyreek Hill kind of impact in Johnson's offense, Poles can't pass up that opportunity. But Johnson's ability to get the most out of any draft pick (fourth-rounder Amon-Ra St. Brown, seventh-rounder Kyle Monangai, second-rounders Sam LaPorta and likely Luther Burden) gives Poles room to get the best defensive player he can with his first pick (No. 25 or later if he trades down for more picks). And with four picks in the first three rounds (to start, anyway), he probably should not stop there.

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