The Bears went into last season with Super Bowl expectations, but the pressure might actually be higher this year.
The team’s entire power structure and blueprint is at stake after falling flat at 8-8 last season. General manager Ryan Pace is seemingly on his last chance, and coach Matt Nagy’s job will also be in question if things don’t turn around.
Expect a lot of “now or never” or “do or die” quotes this season from the players, too. There are many substandard performances lingering from last season, and they’ll be out to show they’re better than that. Here are five facing the most pressure in 2020:
OLB Khalil Mack
Few players in the NFL will be under as much scrutiny this season as Mack, and that’s part of the deal when you carry a $26.6 million salary-cap hit — the biggest cap number for any non-quarterback in 2020. On top of that, the Bears gave up two first-round picks to acquire Mack.
The trade and the enormous contract looked well worth it the first season, when Mack elevated the Bears’ defense from good to great, but it wasn’t so obvious last season. Without another major pass-rush threat working with him — Akiem Hicks was injured and Leonard Floyd was a dud — Mack had 8.5 sacks and five forced fumbles. That’s a solid year, but it’s not the elite production the Bears are paying for and expecting.
Mack is counting on Hicks coming back healthy and newcomer Robert Quinn being a force, but he needs to be game-wrecker even if those things don’t happen.
RB Tarik Cohen
How does an offensive weapon like Cohen go from leading the team in total yards in 2018 to being just another guy in 2019? That was a mystery neither Cohen nor Nagy could clear up last season, though both claim they’ve figured it all out this offseason.
Cohen was incredible his first season in Nagy’s offense: 725 yards receiving, 444 yards rushing and eight touchdowns. His total yardage dropped nearly in half in 2019 despite a similar number of opportunities. There were back-to-back weeks in which Nagy played him just 16 snaps.
The pressure on Cohen is twofold. He has the potential to be one of the most electric playmakers in the game, and the Bears’ offense is desperate for that type of talent. He also has a tremendous amount of money at stake. Cohen had hoped to get a long-term extension this offseason, a source said, but the team will probably want to see what it gets from him in 2020 first. This is the last year of his rookie contract, and he’ll play for just $2.1 million with the intent of proving he’s worth much more.
TE Jimmy Graham
The two-year, $16 million contract the Bears gave Graham is widely viewed as one of the most surprising deals of the NFL offseason. It’s close to the same annual salary that the Packers gave him two years ago, and there’s been significant decline since then. In this case, there’s much more pressure on Pace than the player.
That being said, Graham is making the final stand for his career. At 33, he wants to keep him playing, but it’s hard to imagine any team giving him a shot in 2021 if this season doesn’t go well. A handful of tight ends in the last decade — Jason Witten, Ben Watson and Antonio Gates, for example — have remained productive into their mid- or late-30s, so it’s possible.
Graham was still game-changer in 2016 for the Seahawks, but he dipped to averages of 50 catches, 534 yards and five touchdowns over the last three seasons. The Packers benched him at one point last season and cut him a few months ago with one year left on his deal. He’s got a lot to prove.
LT Charles Leno
One of the most persistent concerns of this offseason is how exactly the Bears plan to vastly improve their offensive line play without changing the personnel. The only potential new starter is former Seahawks first-round pick Germain Ifedi at right guard.
The most important piece of the line is left tackle Charles Leno. The Bears need him to be their best lineman. He was so frustrated with his own play a month into the season that he said he needed to do “some real deep searching” during the bye week. He committed 12 accepted penalties last season, including seven calls for holding.
As a seventh-rounder, Leno is one of the best draft gems of Pace’s career, but signing him to a four-year, $37 million extension means he has to be a cornerstone of the line. His cap hit is $10.3 million this season, followed by $11.3 next season. Leno is certainly worth that price at his best, but he has to find a way to get back there this season.
CB Jaylon Johnson
Hope you’re ready, kid. The Bears drafted Johnson No. 50 overall out of Utah this year, and he is the youngest player on the roster at 21. Drafting a cornerback was part of the plan as they said goodbye to veteran Prince Amukamara, a 31-year-old who would’ve made $9 million this season, but there’s little safety net for Johnson.
The Bears have Kyle Fuller on the outside and Buster Skrine underneath, but it looks like the plan is Johnson-or-bust at the other outside spot. The other competitors are Artie Burns (a first-round pick who sputtered in Pittsburgh) and Kevin Toliver (two career starts). Johnson needs to be an immediate starter.
Johnson has the talent and speed — he clocked a 4.5 40-yard dash at the combine. He had 11 pass break-ups, including two interceptions, as a junior, and NFL.com draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah rated him the 27th-best prospect overall. It’ll come down to how quickly he grasps the Bears’ scheme and adapts to facing NFL receivers.
