The 2025 Chicago Bears season was one for the ages.

Chicago took a major step in head coach Ben Johnson’s first season. The team elevated itself to one of the best in the NFL after finishing 5-12 the previous year. It resulted in the franchise’s first playoff berth since 2020, first NFC North title since 2018 and first playoff win since the 2010 playoffs.

The Bears did it in dramatic fashion, too. They had seven comeback wins after they trailed with two minutes left in the game, earning themselves the “Cardiac Bears” nickname.

Chicago will now try to build off of a great season. Bears general manager Ryan Poles and Johnson will need to make some tough roster decisions this offseason as the Bears try to take another step closer to being Super Bowl contenders next year.

Over the next few weeks, Shaw Local will evaluate how each position group did over the past season and start looking toward the offseason. Here’s a look at the defensive line room.

Defensive line

Returning players: Montez Sweat, Austin Booker, Dayo Odeyingbo, Gervon Dexter, Grady Jarrett, Shemar Turner, Jonathan Garvin, Jamree Kromah, Jeremiah Martin

Free agents: Andrew Billings, Daniel Hardy, Dominique Robinson, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Chris Williams

Looking back: A major question heading into the season was whether the Bears did enough to improve the pass rush. It quickly became evident that the answer was no.

Chicago’s defensive line struggled in both the pass rush and the run defense. The Bears tied for 22nd with 35 sacks and 24th with 126 quarterback pressures. It led to a Pro Football Focus pass rush grade of 65.4, which rated 25th. Their run defense wasn’t much better, allowing the sixth-most rushing yards per game (134.5).

Sweat put together a good season from the outside. He had 10 sacks, which was tied for 15th in the NFL and the most he’s had with one team during a season in his career. Sweat also put together 27 quarterback pressures, which ranked 19th amongst all defensive linemen in the NFL, and 10 quarterback hurries.

But Sweat didn’t get much support from any point of the line. Booker had 4.5 sacks in 10 games from the outside, while Robinson added 1.5. Odeyingbo, who was the Bears’ top free-agent pass rush acquisition, finished with one sack and six quarterback pressures in eight games before he tore his Achilles tendon.

It wasn’t much better from the inside. Dexter finished second on the team with six sacks and added 22 quarterback pressures. Jarrett battled through some injuries and played in 14 games, finishing with 1.5 sacks and 11 quarterback pressures. Turner, one of the Bears’ second-round picks from April, never found his role as he battled an injury for most of training camp before tearing his ACL in Week 8.

Poles made one move at the trade deadline to boost the defensive line, trading for Tryon-Shoyinka. He played in eight games for the Bears and finished with one quarterback hit.

What’s next: The priority for Poles once again will be to find a way to fix the Bears’ defensive line. But it might not be as simple as it seems.

Chicago already invested a good amount of its salary cap space there. Sweat has the second-highest hit with a roughly $25.1 million cap on the books, according to Spotrac. Odeyingbo is fifth on the team with a $20.5 million hit, while Jarrett is seventh with $18.9 million.

Poles could address the defensive line in different fashions. He could trade for or sign a top pass rusher like he revamped the offensive line last offseason. Free agent Trey Hendrickson will be a top target for many teams, and many fans are wishing for a trade that would bring Las Vegas Raiders rusher Maxx Crosby to town. But the Bears would need to clear salary cap space in order for those moves to happen.

Chicago could also invest its top draft picks on defense like it did on offense last year. The Bears will hold the No. 25 overall pick in April and have picks in the first five rounds of the draft.

“I think that’s an area we’re going to continue to press and get better,” Poles said. “I look forward to Shemar getting back and Dayo getting back. I thought Sweat did a good job this year. I think sometimes we get hung up on sacks, and sacks are important — he did get into double digits — but I think his all-around game was good. The way he defended the run, defended the perimeter as well as applied pressure, was good. But we need him to continue to get better too, so we’ll evaluate everything."

Poles will also need to decide whether he wants to work a contract extension with Dexter and whether to pick up his fifth-year option. Dexter has flashed at times but hasn’t played consistently after being selected in the second round in 2023. He has 13.5 sacks over three seasons and 42 quarterback hits.

Past Bears position reviews

• Quarterbacks
• Running backs
• Wide receivers
• Tight ends
• Offensive line