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Spain’s '85 Bears Defense + Will Cubs and Sox buy big at deadline? | Chicago Sports Tonight
Fox Chicago's Devan Kaney is joined by Fox Sports' Danny Parkins, and they break down Spain’s historic World Cup final win over Messi and Argentina—shutting down two of the highest-scoring offenses in football history. Was this literally the soccer equivalent of the 1985 Chicago Bears defense? And after celebrating the 10-year 2016 World Series anniversary, can this current squad actually contend for a ring? Plus, sitting in 1st place in the AL Central ahead of the Guardians, should Chris Getz stay put, or make a small buy at the trade deadline to push this team over the top? Finally, Bears training camp is one week away; we unpack the biggest position battles and answer the ultimate question: can Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams take this offense into top-5 territory in Year 2?
Chicago Bears training camp officially opens at the end of July, with rookies reporting first and veterans reporting soon after.
FOX Chicago takes a look at the Bears’ defensive line, which is a unit that's hoping a return to the basics will help them stay consistent throughout the 2026 season.
Here’s a look at the Bears’ defensive line room ahead of training camp.
Bears Defensive Line Depth Chart
Left EDGE – 1. Montez Sweat, 2. Shemar Turner
Left DT – 1. Gervon Dexter Sr., 2. Neville Gallimore
Right DT – 1. Grady Jarrett, 2. Jordan van den Berg
Right EDGE – 1. Austin Booker, No. 2 Dayo Odeyingbo
TBD – James Lynch, Kentavious Street, Daniel Hardy
What we know:
The Chicago Bears were assumed to make a major change on the defensive line.
For what feels like the third or fourth year in a row, NFL draft analysts everywhere predicted the Bears would select a pass rusher with one of their top picks. They selected safety Dillon Thieneman from Oregon.
This meant the Bears were going to run it back with their defensive line from 2025. Expecting different results from virtually the same group means the group itself would need to change its approach.
"One of the things that we identified was we focused so much on installing all the scheme last year, because it was brand new," Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said on May 9. "We do have a high volume of things that we carry in the defense, and we focused so much on that, that we lost sight of some of the fundamentals and techniques that it takes to function to do those things."
The Bears are hoping that approach will help in leiu of adding another high-profile pass rusher.
What we don't know:
Can approaching the fundamentals work? Maybe.
The Bears were in the bottom half of the league and tied with four other teams with 35 team sacks. It was enough to help the Bears clinch the NFC North.
The lack of pass rush hurt the Bears in key games, though. Namely, in the NFC Divisional Round loss to the Rams.
Los Angeles added Myles Garrett in the offseason. The Bears are looking for group improvement from a unit that was never truly whole last season as Austin Booker, Dayo Odeyingbo, Montez Sweat, Grady Jarrett and Gervon Dexter Sr. never played altogether due to injuries.
Big picture view:
While it's easy to look at the Rams and criticize the Bears for not doing enough for the pass rush, it's also fair to consider where the Bears are as a unit.
Jarrett, Sweat and Odeyingbo will make $44.1 million in combined salary during the 2026 season. After that, their dead cap costs will drop considerably. It will cost $12 million total to move on from each of them if the Bears choose to do so, and that number would be less if the Bears found trade partners.
Dexter Sr. is in the final year of his rookie contract, too.
That means this could be the last hurrah for all three of those players in a Bears' uniform. Booker could be one of the only pass rushers that remains on the roster in 2027, and he's on a rookie contract that seems favorable after he's improved greatly since his rookie season.
Aside from Booker, the only other guaranteed returnees in 2027 seem to be Shemar Turner and Daniel Hardy, who has massive special teams value.
Who knows what this unit will look like one year from now. In the present day, though, the defensive line will look to fall in line with what the Bears want from their defense as a whole: fast and technically sound.
Training camp will test where that group is in regards to both of those aspects.