The Chicago Bears have acquired quite a bit of talent over the past 24 hours.
Since Tuesday, the Bears have agreed to terms on two trades to acquire new starting guards for their offensive line, landing Jonah Jackson from the Los Angeles Rams and first-team All-Pro Joe Thuney from the Kansas City Chiefs.
On Wednesday, though, they made a move to retain one of their own.
According to Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz, the Bears are tendering defensive end Daniel Hardy as an exclusive rights free agent before March 12’s start to 2025 NFL free agency. He played in all 17 games for Chicago during the 2024 season.
Hardy has spent the past two seasons with the Bears, but he earned himself a core special teams role in 2024 after spending 2023 on the practice squad. He led the team with 11 special teams tackles and played 85% of special teams snaps (370). He also blocked punt against the Tennessee Titans in Week 1.
After the offseason hiring of Ben Johnson, though, Hardy will need to impress his new coaches to earn his roster spot and make it to the 2025 season.
Fortunately for him, Hardy currently has the advantage of numbers on his side.
The Bears have just four defensive ends signed to their 2025 offseason roster after tendering Hardy, including Montez Sweat and 2024 fifth-round pick Austin Booker. Chicago will also return Dominique Robinson, but his future is murky.
While the Bears will almost certainly pursue more edge-rushing help in free agency and the draft, Hardy’s tender should buy him a ticket to training camp next summer, especially since special teams coordinator Richard Hightower is sticking around on Johnson’s staff to maintain continuity for him.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Bears also tendered guard Bill Murray as an exclusive rights free agent on Wednesday afternoon.
Murray played three games at guard for the Bears last season and showed promise before suffering a pectoral injury that landed him on injured reserve.