Bears 2026 Offseason Needs, Part 3.5: Drew Dalman Is Gone, and Now the Bears Have Two Holes on the Best O-Line in Football

Editor's note (March 6): Since publication, Tyler Biadasz has agreed to terms with the Los Angeles Chargers, removing the Bears' top free-agent target at center from the board. The Linderbaum and McGovern options detailed below remain in play.

This installment wasn't supposed to exist.

When we mapped out this offseason needs series two weeks ago, center wasn't on the list. It wasn't close to the list. Drew Dalman was coming off a Pro Bowl season, anchoring an offensive line that ranked first in the NFL in pass block win rate and fifth in run block win rate. He was 27 years old, one year into a three-year, $42 million contract, and playing the best football of his life. The interior offensive line was the one thing Ryan Poles didn't have to worry about.

Then, on Tuesday afternoon, Adam Schefter reported that Dalman had informed the Bears he was retiring. No reason given. No public statement. No warning. Just gone—$24 million still on the table, a Pro Bowl berth still warm, and a gaping hole in the middle of an offensive line that was supposed to be the foundation of everything.

We covered the immediate fallout in our breaking news piece yesterday. But the ripple effects of this decision demand a deeper look, because Dalman's retirement doesn't just create a roster hole. It fundamentally reshapes the Bears' entire offseason calculus. So consider this an unplanned addition to the series—a Part 3.5 that nobody saw coming, for a need that didn't exist 48 hours ago.

About This Series

With free agency opening March 11 and the NFL Draft set for late April in Pittsburgh, the next two months will define whether the Bears can turn a breakthrough season into sustained contention. The offense is largely set—every starter is under contract, and the offensive line that Ben Johnson built was, until yesterday, one of the best in football. The defense is another story. And now, suddenly, neither is the offensive line.

Over the coming days, we'll be breaking down each of the Bears' biggest offseason needs in a multi-part series. For each position, we'll examine why it needs to be addressed, who the realistic options are in both free agency and the draft, and how Poles might navigate the cap crunch while keeping this team's championship window wide open. Here's what's ahead:

Part 1: Safety — Zero safeties under contract. The most urgent hole on the roster.
Part 2: Defensive Tackle — Poles is targeting speed and violence up front. The Combine confirmed it.
Part 3: Edge Rusher — Montez Sweat needs a running mate. The cap says it won't be Crosby.
Part 3.5: Center (today) — Drew Dalman's shocking retirement just blew a hole in the NFL's best O-line.
Part 4: Left Tackle — Ozzy Trapilo's torn patellar tendon leaves a gaping hole protecting Caleb's blindside.
Part 5: Linebacker & Secondary Depth — The Edmunds fallout and what comes next.

What Was Lost

It's worth sitting with the magnitude of this for a moment, because the numbers tell a story that free agency isn't going to easily replicate.

Dalman started all 17 games and both playoff contests in 2025. He played 1,154 offensive snaps—the most of any center in the NFL. Pro Football Focus graded him as the seventh-best center in football with a 77.5 overall mark. He ranked eighth in ESPN's pass block win rate. He allowed one sack and 21 pressures all season. He earned his first Pro Bowl selection. He was the Bears' Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award winner. He was, without exaggeration, the anchor of the offensive line that helped the Bears win the NFC North and make the Divisional Round of the playoffs.

The transformation Dalman was central to is staggering. The Bears allowed 68 sacks in 2024—the year before he arrived. They allowed 24 in 2025. That's a 65 percent reduction. That improvement was the single biggest reason Caleb Williams went from a battered rookie taking 4.0 sacks per game to a poised second-year quarterback operating one of the most efficient offenses in the NFC. Everything Ben Johnson's system accomplished last season was built on the protection that Dalman, Joe Thuney, and this offensive line provided.

And now two-fifths of that line is gone. Ozzy Trapilo ruptured his patellar tendon in the Divisional Round loss to the Rams and is expected to miss most of the 2026 season. Dalman just walked away from football. The Bears went into this offseason needing to address safety, defensive tackle, edge rusher, linebacker, and left tackle. Center was the one position they could cross off the board without thinking twice.

Not anymore.

The Cap Aftermath

The financial fallout is complicated, and understanding it matters—because the money Dalman's retirement frees up is almost exactly what the Bears will need to spend replacing him.

Dalman's scheduled 2026 cap hit was $14 million: $11 million in base salary, $2 million in prorated signing bonus, and $1 million in roster bonuses. Per Over The Cap, the retirement means the Bears save the base salary and roster bonuses—roughly $10 million in cap relief—but absorb $4 million in dead money from the accelerated signing bonus proration. Dalman's $14 million cap hit drops to $4 million.

There's a wrinkle. As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk noted, the Bears have the contractual right to claw back $4 million of Dalman's $6 million signing bonus—the portion covering the two years of service he won't provide. That recovery wouldn't provide cap relief in 2026, but it's real money the organization can recoup. Whether the Bears pursue it is a different question; clawing back signing bonus money from a player who walked away for undisclosed personal reasons isn't exactly a great look.

The net effect: Chicago saves about $10 million against the cap. That sounds helpful until you realize they now need to spend that $10 million—and potentially more—to sign a replacement for the center they just lost. It's a lateral move at best. The cap space that was supposed to fund a pass rusher or a safety now has to go toward plugging a hole that wasn't on the blueprint.

The Linderbaum Question

If you read Part 3 of this series, you know how this section goes. There's a generational player available at the position of need. The Bears are interested. And the math probably doesn't work.

Tyler Linderbaum is the best center in football. That's not hyperbole—it's the assessment of his own general manager and head coach. Ravens GM Eric DeCosta said it at the Combine: "He's proven to be, in my opinion, the best center in the league." Head coach Jesse Minter echoed it. The three-time Pro Bowler is 25 years old, has improved his PFF grade every season since entering the league, and has the second-best pass block win rate among centers since 2022—behind only Kansas City's Creed Humphrey.

The Bears have already been doing their homework. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported that Chicago has "sniffed around" Linderbaum—interest that, in retrospect, suggests the Bears may have known Dalman's retirement was coming before Schefter broke the news.

But here's the problem: everybody wants Linderbaum. NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah put it as plainly as possible at the Combine: "Everybody that I've talked to seems to be in on Tyler Linderbaum. It sounds like he's going to have a robust market." The Chargers, Giants, Lions, Browns, Raiders, and Patriots have all been connected to the center. The Ravens made what DeCosta called a "market-setting offer" that would exceed Humphrey's $18 million per year—currently the highest-paid center deal in NFL history. And even that might not be enough. Breer reported that Linderbaum's camp is seeking $25 million per year. Most projections land somewhere between $20 million and $21 million annually, with a total deal in the neighborhood of four years and $80-plus million.

For the Bears, the question isn't whether Linderbaum is worth that money. He probably is. The question is whether they can afford it while also addressing safety, defensive tackle, edge rusher, linebacker, and left tackle—the five needs that were already on the board before Dalman retired. Chicago was over the cap by $4.1 million before Tuesday. The $10 million in Dalman savings helps, but committing $20-plus million to a center would eat all of it and then some. As we detailed in Part 3, the Bears already have $46.7 million tied up at edge rusher alone, including $20.5 million for an Odeyingbo contract that produced one sack. There's only so much money to go around.

The dream scenario is one where Linderbaum hits the open market and the Bears outbid the field. The realistic scenario is one where Baltimore matches or another team with more cap space overpays, and the Bears are left working the next tier.

The Free Agent Market

The good news—and there is some—is that the Bears aren't waiting around for March 11 to address this.

Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday that the Bears are already hosting Tyler Biadasz on a visit. Biadasz is already a free agent after Washington released him on February 26, meaning the Bears don't have to wait for the negotiating window to open to begin the courtship.

The fit makes sense on paper. Biadasz, 28, is a former Pro Bowler (2022, Dallas) who started 31 games over the last two seasons in Washington, snapping the ball to Jayden Daniels. Pro Football Focus graded him as the 11th-best center in the NFL in 2025 with a 70.7 overall mark—a few spots behind Dalman's 77.5. His pass-blocking grade of 67.1 ranked 15th, just behind Dalman's 67.3. His run-blocking grade of 71.2 ranked 12th. He fits zone and screen schemes—exactly what Chicago runs. Bleacher Nation described his profile as a "balanced game" with PFF grades that land just behind the player he'd be replacing.

Washington's decision to release Biadasz surprised people around the league, including his own teammates. The Commanders saved only $2.8 million in cap space—an odd move for a team sitting on over $70 million in room. Their loss could be Chicago's gain. Biadasz's Spotrac market value sits at $10.1 million per year, which would slot in below Dalman's $14 million cap hit. If the Bears can get Biadasz locked in early, it would be the most Poles move imaginable—pragmatic, efficient, and decisive.

If Biadasz doesn't work out, the next name to watch is Connor McGovern of the Buffalo Bills. McGovern, 28, has been one of the more quietly reliable centers in football over the past two seasons. PFF graded him as the 10th-best center in 2025, and the most eye-popping number on his résumé is this: zero sacks allowed since 2023. None. Across two full seasons and a playoff run, McGovern hasn't given up a single sack. He allowed 18 pressures in 2025 and ranked sixth among centers in PFF's pass-blocking grade. Yahoo Sports' Nate Tice specifically flagged McGovern as a Bears fit, noting the schematic overlap with what he's done in Buffalo and Dallas.

The catch is cost. McGovern will be more expensive than Biadasz—ESPN's Bill Barnwell projected his deal in the $9 to $16 million per year range—and the Bills, while currently over the cap, haven't ruled out retaining him. The Lions, who lost Frank Ragnow to retirement last year and are looking to upgrade at center themselves, are also expected to pursue McGovern. This one could get competitive.

Beyond the top tier, there's a budget shelf that the Bears may need to raid depending on how much they spend elsewhere. Lloyd Cushenberry III was just released by the Titans and has a Spotrac market value of $7.1 million—a solid option when healthy, though injuries have been an issue. Luke Fortner, a former third-round pick who started 10 games for the Saints in 2025, ranked 17th among centers per PFF and could be an under-the-radar bargain. And Graham Glasgow, the 33-year-old recently released by Detroit, has a built-in connection to Ben Johnson from their time together with the Lions—he's a stopgap, not a solution, but the familiarity could matter.

There's also an in-house wrinkle worth mentioning. The Bears could theoretically move Jonah Jackson from right guard to center—he's taken emergency snaps there in Detroit and Los Angeles—but he wasn't good at it in either stop, and moving him would weaken a guard position where he ranked 18th in the NFL per PFF. Ryan Bates, the backup center, is a free agent himself. Luke Newman, a rookie guard, dabbled at center during the season but is nowhere near ready to start. The internal options range from bad to worse.

The Draft Path

The 2026 draft class has center depth but no top-of-the-draft solution. There's no first-round center in this class, which means the Bears can't solve this problem at pick 25. But they could find a developmental piece on Day 2 or 3 to pair with whatever veteran they sign in free agency—and two names fit Chicago's offense like a glove.

PFF's Trevor Sikkema and Dalton Wasserman were among the first analysts to connect the dots after Dalman's retirement. Their reasoning was simple and specific: Chicago ran outside zone at the third-highest percentage of any team in the league last year. That makes Jake Slaughter and Logan Jones—both zone-blocking specialists—natural Bears targets.

Slaughter, a three-year starter and two-time captain at Florida, is the more polished of the two. He started 33 games at center for the Gators, earned AP All-SEC First Team honors in both 2024 and 2025, and posted a 99.1 percent pass block win rate in his final college season—allowing just one sack, one hit, and two hurries all year. NFL.com's Lane Zierlein described him as a technically sound blocker who excels in outside zone and makes up for physical limitations with awareness and football IQ. Bleacher Report's scouting report praised his "tough, lunchpail-style temperament." The concern is size—at 6-4, 303 pounds, he's unlikely to move NFL defensive tackles in the run game, and SI Bears noted that his run blocking "has a long way to go before being ready for the NFL." He profiles as a Day 3 pick who could develop behind a veteran starter.

Jones, a four-year starter at Iowa, brings the same zone-blocking fit with different strengths and similar limitations. PFF College graded him with an 87.6 pass-blocking mark over his last two seasons—during which he allowed just one sack and eight pressures in 616 pass-blocking snaps. He ran a 4.90-second 40-yard dash at the Combine, showing the quickness that makes him effective in space. But Zierlein noted his "dense frame and short limbs" and called long nose tackles with quick hands his kryptonite. Bleacher Report's scouting report warned that his "short arms and middling play-strength will make it difficult to consistently hold the point." Jones is also an older prospect who will turn 25 early in his rookie season—a center-only player without the positional versatility that typically boosts draft stock. Like Slaughter, he's a developmental piece, not a plug-and-play starter.

One name to file away: Connor Lew of Auburn. WalterFootball compared him to Creed Humphrey—the highest compliment you can give a center prospect. At 6-4, 310 pounds, Lew is the youngest center in the class and was tracking as a potential second-round pick before a torn ACL ended his 2025 season midway through. The injury dropped his projection to the middle rounds, but if Lew's medicals check out, he could be one of the best value picks in the entire draft. The Bears' offensive line coach, Dan Roushar, has a strong track record of developing interior linemen, which could make Lew an intriguing stash if the Bears sign a veteran to start in Year 1.

The important thing to understand about all of these draft options is what Heavy.com reported: "Both Slaughter and Jones will need time to develop, but either prospect could become the Bears' center of the future. They just aren't expected to start right away as rookies." The draft can supplement this need. It can't solve it by September.

The Bottom Line

Twenty-four hours ago, the Bears' offseason priority list looked like this: safety, defensive tackle, edge rusher, linebacker, left tackle. Today, center sits right alongside them—and there's an argument it's the most impactful addition the Bears can make, because the center is the captain of the offensive line. He's the one making pre-snap reads, calling protections, and directing traffic in Ben Johnson's zone-blocking scheme. Left tackle might ultimately require more resources to address, but center is the position that makes everything else on the line function.

Dalman's retirement saves about $10 million in cap space. It also costs $4 million in dead money. And whatever the Bears spend to replace him—whether it's $20-plus million on Linderbaum, $10 million on Biadasz, or something in between—will eat into the money they were counting on for other positions. The cap math that made Maxx Crosby a pipe dream in Part 3 applies with equal force here. There's only one salary cap. It doesn't expand because a Pro Bowl center decided to walk away from football.

The most likely path looks like this: the Bears sign a veteran center during the first wave of free agency—Biadasz if the visit goes well, McGovern if they can win the bidding, or a budget option like Cushenberry or Fortner if the dollars need to go elsewhere. They supplement with a Day 2 or Day 3 draft pick—Slaughter or Jones if the Bears want a zone-blocking specialist who fits the scheme, or Lew if his knee checks out and the value is too good to pass up. The signed veteran starts in 2026. The drafted center develops behind him and takes over when the contract expires.

It's a reasonable plan. It's a Poles plan. But it's worth acknowledging what the Bears actually lost here—not just a center, but the anchor of the best offensive line in football. The man who played every snap, who helped cut the sack rate by 65 percent, who gave Caleb Williams the platform to become the quarterback Chicago needed him to be. Replacing that production is possible. Replacing that certainty is not.

The offensive line was supposed to be the one area of this roster that Poles could point to and say: we're set. Now it has two gaping holes—left tackle and center—heading into a week where everything else on the offseason checklist still needs to be addressed. Free agency opens in six days. The clock is ticking. And the Bears are scrambling to solve a problem that didn't exist until Tuesday afternoon.

Next up in our 2026 Offseason Needs series: Left tackle. Ozzy Trapilo's torn patellar tendon in the divisional round left a gaping hole on Caleb Williams' blindside, and the Bears have no clear replacement on the roster. We'll break down the options—from free agency to the draft—to protect the franchise quarterback.