Report: It’s ‘70-30’ that Kevin Byard III will return to the Chicago Bears

I missed this report yesterday from ESPN’s David Kaplan — h/t to Luis C. Medina from Bleacher Nation Bears — regarding Chicago Bears safety Kevin Byard III, and the odds on him returning to Chicago.

“I was told by somebody who would know, that he is 70-30 that he is going to be a Bear,” Kaplan said yesterday morning via his Coffee with Kap segment on social media channels. “They’re working on it, they’re trying to get a deal done that’s fair for both sides.”

After the season it was assumed that the 32 year old Byard would re-sign with the Bears, but then his market picked up. We started to hear a few other teams were interested in the All Pro, the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs said Byard could command north of $10 million, and suddennly it wasn’t a foregone conclusion he’d be back.

Perhaps the strong showing from the safety class at the NFL Combine has teams rethinking their free agency safety budget.

Kap goes on to suggest the Bears could be a team looking to paid Byard up with a rookie safety, which would mean Jaquan Brisker would be elsewhere in 2026.

What are your thoughts on Kap’s report? Would you like a Byard-rookie pairing for the Bears in 2026?