A common NFL problem that the Chicago Bears seem to have covered

The player most likely to receive a tag is not a tag most NFL players I wish I had, but in Jaquan Brisker’s case, it’s really not that bad.

Professional Football Network did a league-wide feature examining each team’s most likely player to receive a free agency tag of some type after this season. Brisker was named most likely for the bears although this seems like one of the most far-fetched scenarios possible.

Players don’t want to be tagged because it restricts their freedom, but on the other hand, Brisker would receive a projected $19 million to $21 million guaranteed for 2026. For a player whose future was uncertain due to three concussions in three seasons, such a payment would be welcome, no matter who pays or the circumstances.

Therein lies the absurd part of this scenario.

The Bears are unlikely to pay a healthy safety $19-21 million per year after paying Eddie Jackson the highest amount ever for a safety at the time in 2020, $58.4 million over four years, and his productivity declined afterward until they cut him after the 2023 season.

Brisker and the Bears reported that he was healthy during the offseason.

Its goal is to stay that way.

“Just stay healthy,” he said during minicamp. “I don’t have anything to prove. When I was out there, I played. I’ll attack the ball and I go down and hit, I go down and tackle, and I’m a leader. Really, I just have to be out there.”

To be fair to PFN, finding anyone else on the Bears to focus on is difficult because, in part, of general manager Ryan Poles, for better or worse.

Braxton Jones is the second-best option, but marking a tackle costs like a cornerback and the Bears already have two candidates to replace Jones next year on the roster – not to mention they’ll have chances in the draft and free agency in 2026. That’s the main reason for speculation that this could be a year where Jones gets traded at some point.

This could have applied to Brisker as well, but his medical history makes a trade unlikely.

There is a shortage of fourth-year starters outside of Brisker who could qualify for scoring without a signed 2026 contract.

This is partly because the Poles have already managed to sign Kyler Gordon to a contract extension.

The bad news is that the rest of the recruiting class has either accomplished little or has already been shipped out.

Velus Jones Jr. was waived, Dominique Robinson will fight for a spot on the team this year. Zachary Thomas was cut, placed on their practice squad and released. Trestan Ebner was completely devastated. Doug Kramer is in the same spot as Robinson, just hoping to make the team. Ja’Tyre Carter and Trenton Gill were sidelined and Elijah Hicks was an effective backup but not a starter who would be marked.

Overall, the Bears don’t even have many starters coming off their contracts after this year, let alone fourth-year players. Security is the area where they are particularly affected, but not much else.

Perhaps if the Poles had drafted better, the situation would also be different.

Here are the Bears who are out of contract after 2025 and are unrestricted or restricted free agents:

Bears unrestricted free agents 2026

* Starter

2026 Restricted Bears Free Agents

X: BearsOnSI