Bears

Chicago built a reputation this season as the “Cardiac Bears” with their late-game heroics and comebacks. Although Bears GM Ryan Poles likes their fourth-quarter performances, he’d rather not live on the edge. 

“I don’t think you can be satisfied,” Poles said, via BearsWire. “I heard the whole Cardiac Bears thing. I’d rather not be the Cardiac Bears, but if that’s what that game needs, then that’s what you need to do. I do think you’ve got to win close games. When you get down to that two minutes, it’s important. They repped that a lot and the guys were prepared for it. I don’t think you want to be living on the edge all the time. I think what you can take from this season is that we were able to have poise down the stretch of games and be poised to finish and guys made plays when they needed to be made. I don’t think that’s a characteristic that you should ever shy away from.”

Bears

Bears GM Ryan Poles was asked about the plans for 2026 at safety, where Chicago has four pending free agents, including Jaquan Brisker and Kevin Byard. The latter sounds like he might be the priority. 

“We’re going to take a step back and kind of evaluate that and put that puzzle together. It’s actually four safeties that aren’t under contract for next year, so I have a lot of faith in our process that we’ll do that,” Poles said, via Bears Wire. “I think Kevin is a special player. I have no problem saying that’s a player that we would like to have back, but again, when you add the other safeties in that mix and all the other decisions across the roster, cap restraints, things like that, it will be a challenge.”

Packers

• ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler mentions that former Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon is “firmly in the mix” for the Packers’ defensive coordinator vacancy.
• Fowler mentions former Falcons HC Raheem Morris and Broncos defensive pass-game coordinator Jim Leonhard as other names to watch for Green Bay.