It isn't often that a team that finished a season with a 5-12 record can be overly optimistic just one year later, but that's the case for the 2025 Chicago Bears. This team -- the one that's been completely revamped and rebuilt by GM Ryan Poles in one offseason -- does have reasons why there should be elevated expectations.

Here we'll try to look at the Chicago Bears veteran players whose roles will be pushed by rookies in the 2025 NFL season.

Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson has long viewed his “summer break” in the NFL as a chance to get ahead: “You can get some creative juices flowing.”

In a podcast appearance, Lions GM Brad Holmes wondered aloud why Ben Johnson left Detroit for Chicago of all places

Add Brad Holmes to the list of people who were shocked to see Ben Johnson head to the Chicago Bears. The Detroit Lions general manager echoed some of his players in voicing his surprise when Johnson,