After a season with the Cowboys, Jack Sanborn will return to Chicago. The Bears are bringing back the veteran linebacker, according to a team announcement.
A 19-game Bears starter from 2022-24, Sanborn migrated to Dallas after being nontendered as an RFA last year. Sanborn went down with a groin injury midway through the season, and the Cowboys did not activate him from IR. He will return to Chicago after playing out a one-year, $1.5MM Dallas deal.
Even with the Bears spending big at linebacker in 2023 — via the Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards accords — they used Sanborn as a 10-game starter. He registered a career-high 67 tackles (seven for loss) and intercepted a pass. Chicago capped Sanborn’s defensive usage at 39%, with Edmunds and Edwards in place as full-timers on the team’s defensive second level. A similar role may be in store in 2026.
Pro Football Focus has long viewed Sanborn as a mid-pack linebacker, but he did not have enough snaps to qualify as a regular in 2025. Sanborn, 25, missed 11 games last season; though, the Wisconsin alum did log a career-best 55% snap rate in his Cowboys season.
Releasing Edmunds — who landed on his feet with a $23MM Giants guarantee — the Bears still roster Edwards, and they added Devin Bush after the former first-rounder impressed under Jim Schwartz in Cleveland. The team re-signed D’Marco Jackson and rosters two of the NFL’s three Sewell brothers. Noah Sewell started nine games last season; Nephi has one career start in four NFL campaigns.
