The Chicago Bears’ new free-agent class has big goals — and a sense of humor

Funny thing about Neville Gallimore, the 6-foot-2, 307-pound monster the Chicago Bears signed this week to become a plug within their run defense: Growing up, he was convinced he was the next David Garrard.

That’s an odd thing to share and reflect on, a kid born in Jamaica and raised in Canada seeing a burly Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback and genuinely believing that was his future.

Gallimore’s vision was to be, like Garrard, a weapon with his legs.

Alas …

That quarterback dream didn’t last long.

“See, that’s the thing,” Gallimore said Thursday, laughing. “That arm. … That arm wasn’t cutting it.”

Hence, he built himself a football future in the trenches. From Ontario to the University of Oklahoma to the NFL draft, where his selection in the third round in 2020 started a career that has now taken him through four organizations — the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, Los Angeles Rams, Indianapolis Colts — and now to Chicago.

“The game,” Gallimore said, “has always been a part of me.”

These are the kinds of things you learn at this time of March, in the period after the first wave of NFL free agency crashes ashore as players join new teams and offer their respective introductions upon arrival. Gallimore was one of five Bears free-agent signees who checked in at Halas Hall on Thursday for the first time, joined by safety Coby Bryant, linebacker Devin Bush, receiver Kalif Raymond and offensive tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. (Center Garrett Bradbury offered his greeting via a video call.)

For each of them, this week has been a whirlwind. Bush thought about waking up Monday with no idea where his football future would occur and then somehow, three days later, winding up in front of cameras at Halas Hall.

“It’s been fast,” he said. “But, I mean, that’s what this league is.”

Added Bryant: “Crazy (time). I’m working off, like, three hours of sleep.”

We’ll have months before a meaningful game is played to fully dissect all the football-y aspects of these new Bears, to truly dive deeper into Bryant’s passion and playmaking instincts, plus Bush’s speed and Raymond’s aggressiveness as a punt returner. There will be ample time to continue debating how much the Bears have improved their roster, with room to discuss the holes they still need to fill.

Thursday, though, offered more of a glimpse into the newcomers’ personalities and wiring.

Bush has no hobbies. By design.

“All I do is football,” he said.

Bryant, sharply dressed in a black suit, black dress shirt and black tie, hopes to continue sharpening his leadership skills and is eager to unite with defensive backs coach Al Harris, whose track record elevating the interception totals of his guys is well documented.

“I couldn’t stop smiling,” Bryant said.

And Raymond? Well, he’s the graybeard of this Bears free-agent class, approaching his 32nd birthday and now heading into his 11th NFL season with his seventh team. A devoted student of football history, Raymond talked openly Thursday about his affinity for Devin Hester and, upon walking around his new workplace, felt like he had entered a bit of a football museum. Which made it easy to assume he had also made the calculated decision to wear a Decatur Staleys hat into his introductory new conference.

But …

“OK. So,” Raymond said, “there are two things. One, I’m not that cool. I wish.”

And two, he arrived at Halas Hall wearing a White Sox cap. Yet from the moment he entered the building, something felt off.

Cubs territory.

“I’m like looking left and right, and I could see, like, eyes (staring). … ‘What are you doing?’” Raymond said.

Two of those eyes belonged to receivers coach and lifelong Cubs fan Antwaan Randle El, who worked with Raymond in Detroit but temporarily killed Thursday’s reunion vibes with some pointed advice.

Take that hat off.

“Apparently,” Raymond said, “you’ve got to pick one side or the other. So I was like, ‘Look, does anybody have any other hat out here? Because I need a little bit of help.’ And they brought this one out.”

Somewhere, Bears chairman George McCaskey and head coach Ben Johnson were smiling.

Bradbury, meanwhile, was still settling his brain after last week’s surprise trade that shipped him from the New England Patriots to the Bears. “A shock to the system,” he said.

Bradbury was in Arizona, where he trains in the offseason, when news of the trade reached him via two short phone calls with the Patriots.

“It was released to the public about a minute later,” he said. “Then, about a minute later, I got a call from coach (Ben) Johnson. So yeah, in a matter of about 10 minutes, everything changed. I hadn’t had a chance to even tell my wife.”

As fate would have it, Bradbury’s wife, Carson, is originally from Naperville. So the temporary life chaos has some additional payoff.

“You want to be where you’re wanted,” Bradbury said. “And clearly, Chicago wanted me more than New England did.”

Like Bryant, Bradbury is also barely a month removed from playing in Super Bowl LX, a milestone moment in his football life and one that almost took his breath away during the national anthem.

“You can’t put a price tag on it,” Bradbury said. “It was the coolest moment of my career, for sure. Leading up to it, winning all those playoff games, it felt like a dream.”

For a Patriots team that had lost 13 games the prior season, experiencing that rapid rise was a thrill.

“The team just worked,” Bradbury said. “They came together; they worked hard. You have to have an identity in this league as a team. How you play football; how you go about your business. I see that with the Bears.

“You don’t want to make comparisons. I think comparisons are lame in this league. It all comes down to the work.”

Bryant, too, witnessed a championship-level grind in Seattle, turning in the best season of his career for a Seahawks defense that staked its claim as the best in the NFL.

“Playing together, being on the same page, having fun,” he said.

Nothing, of course, was more fun than winning it all in Santa Clara, California, dominating Bradbury’s Patriots, showering in confetti and, a few days later, experiencing the spoils of victory in downtown Seattle. About that parade …

“Can’t really describe it,” Bryant said, smiling, “because, um … I’m not going to say too much. But, uh, yeah. Just know that I had a great time.”

Sure seems like an experience worth replicating, if possible.

As for Gallimore and that once-upon-a-time daydream of playing quarterback, he hasn’t given thought to reviving those hopes.

“I always liked to say I was like a skill player trapped in a D-lineman’s body,” he joked.

United now with Johnson, a creative offensive playcaller open to using big men in his tricks, might Gallimore at least lobby for some skill-player opportunity somewhere up the road here?

“Sometimes you’ve got to look yourself in the mirror and face realities,” he said. “We’re trying to win games. I’m not going to play around with that. But in another life? In a past life? Probably.”

Hey, just an idea.

© 2026 The Athletic Media Company. All Rights Reserved. Distributed by New York Times Licensing.