Chicago Bears DVOA, Stats, & NFL Rankings

The Chicago Bears have reached an undisclosed agreement with veteran wide receiver Miles Boykin. Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team reported the news. The 28-year-old split last season on the practice squads of the New York Giants and Seattle Seahawks, though he never made his way to the field. Boykin most recently contributed for the Steelers in 2023, appearing in 17 games, recording three catches for 17 yards on four targets. Though his playing time on offense was minuscule for Pittsburgh, he did play 316 snaps for the squad on special teams (70.07%). Boykin joins his fourth NFL team and will compete for the third WR spot behind returning starters DJ Moore and Rome Odunze. However, he'll likely serve as a special teams asset for Chicago.

The Chicago Bears are signing former Houston Texans quarterback Case Keenum to a one-year deal worth up to $3 million. Keenum spent the last two years as a Texan but missed the entire 2024 campaign due to a foot injury he suffered just before Week 1. Though he spent minimal time on the field over the prior two seasons (two appearances), the 37-year-old was reportedly a leader off the field and a mentor for young QB C.J. Stroud. He'll play a mentoring role again, in addition to potentially backing up second-year signal-caller Caleb Williams. Chicago has done an excellent job of addressing their team needs this offseason -- beefing up their offensive -- and they're doing right by their young QB. Things are looking up for Williams in his second season.

Chicago Bears new head coach Ben Johnson said the team plans to go "back to the basics" with quarterback Caleb Williams heading into his second year as a pro after a disappointing rookie campaign after he was the No. 1 overall pick in last year's draft. "It's the fundamentals of the quarterback position: What's our footwork going to look like under center? From the shotgun? What are we calling the formations? What's the defensive identification going to look like? So that we're all speaking the same language," Johnson said. The 23-year-old will take more snaps under center during offseason workouts to gauge his comfort level. Chicago ran 70.8% of their plays from shotgun in 2024 (tied for 16th-most), but the Lions lined up in shotgun less than any other team under Johnson. Williams took a league-high 68 sacks last year, so using more play-action should help better protect him. On paper, the addition of Johnson should be excellent news for Williams' development.