Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson is already proving to have a persuasive voice with roster strategy inside Halas Hall. There’s no doubt his opinion weighed heavily in the team’s decision to trade for guard Jonah Jackson, who Johnson coached to a Pro Bowl level with the Detroit Lions.
Johnson’s demand to upgrade the offensive line certainly factored into GM Ryan Poles’ aggressive trade for All-Pro guard Joe Thuney as well.
Neither player cost much in terms of Bears draft capital (Thuney was had for a fourth-round pick in 2026, while Jackson cost a sixth-round pick in 2025), but the upcoming NFL free agency period will be a different story.
The Chicago Bears will target a handful of high-priced veterans to fill their remaining roster needs, and there’s a good chance one or more of those upgrades will come from Detroit. Johnson has a unique level of insight into any Lions player Poles considers, making an eventual investment at least seem a bit safer.
According to the Detroit Free Press’ Jared Ramsey, two Lions players will rank high on Johnson’s wish list: Levi Onwuzurike (DL) and Dan Skipper (OT).
Onwuzurike, 27, is an interesting name to monitor. He earned the highest Pro Football Focus grade of his career in 2024 (70.2) and would offer the Bears a versatile defender who can effectively play both defensive tackle and defensive end.
He nearly split his 695 snaps in 2024 between defensive tackle and defensive end, and while he only registered 1.5 sacks last year, he was a solid 10-game starter for the NFC North’s best team.
Onwuzurike would serve two roles for the Chicago Bears: he’d offer a solid, versatile, and reliable defensive lineman to a unit that needs those traits while also providing intel on the Lions. His experience in the NFC North could be a tie-breaker between him and other defensive linemen on the open market. His expected price tag of $8 million per season is a bargain for the position, too.
As for the other Detroit Lions player projected to be a target for the Bears in 2025 free agency, it should be no surprise that it’s an offensive lineman: Offensive tackle Dan Skipper.
“Skipper, the Lions’ sixth offensive lineman in jumbo sets and backup tackle behind Penei Sewell and Taylor Decker, could be another option,” Ramsey wrote. “The Bears need depth on the offensive line even after making a few trades to upgrade the front. Skipper has been a locker room and fan favorite in Detroit, “the most popular scrub” in football and a part of trick plays under Johnson the past few seasons, even catching a touchdown against Buffalo.”