Jeff King has been with the Chicago Bears' organization for 12 years, but this will be the first year he is in the assistant general manager role alongside general manager Ryan Poles.
With the new title come different responsibilities, such as addressing the media at a pre-draft meeting.
After Poles gave a brief opening statement on Tuesday afternoon at Halas Hall, King took the floor and answered a series of questions revolving around the 2026 NFL Draft.
Here are three takeaways from King's press conference.
The Bears have veteran center Garrett Bradbury under contract for the 2026 NFL season, but there isn't a long-term answer at the position. The 2026 Draft class could present some solutions for the Bears' offensive line.
“There's not very many of them," King said. "I think that the thing that you're starting to see now is guys staying in school longer. This is really across all positions, but it really comes into play at center. They're staying in school longer. There's less of them coming out in the draft. You saw (Raiders C Tyler) Linderbaum get his deal. They're just getting harder and harder to find. I don't know if they're getting developed and cross-trained as much in college as they maybe used to be, but it's definitely something that we've talked about is there's a little bit of a limited supply coming out of college now.”
During the draft process, the Bears have met with Kansas State's Sam Hecht and Kentucky's Jager Burton for 30 visits, so the Bears are doing their homework on the limited players at the position.
With players transferring and staying in college longer, there will be older prospects. That's something NFL organizations will have to adjust to each time teams begin preparing for the annual draft.
“I think that's going to become more the norm, right?," Kind said. "With NIL, five-for-five probably coming, and the way guys are going back to school, we're going to probably have to think about that more and more. I think the last three years it's gone up every year of guys coming in the league at 24, 25. I think it's case to case, though. How much tread is on the tires? How did they play? What's their journey like? Have they had injuries? I think it's always case to case, but something that we'll definitely have to deal with going forward.”
There are some older prospects who fit needs on this Bears team. Miami edge rusher Akheem Mesidor is already 25, but is regarded as one of the best players at his position. Would the Bears pass on him because of his age if he is available at pick No. 25?
Day 1 of Thursday night's draft will be telling.
The Bears signed Coby Bryant to a three-year, $40 million contract in free agency to fill one of the two vacant spots at the position after Kevin Byard III and Jaquan Brisker left to other teams.
King was asked if there is a heightened urgency to find another starting caliber safety in the draft.
“Yeah, Coby (Bryant) provides us with a ton of flexibility and versatility," King said. "We can mix and match back there. Cam (Lewis) started the (Buffalo Bills) playoff game at Denver at safety. Elijah Hicks has started games here. I think that we are in a position to where we can add to the room, for sure, just like any other room. But we feel confident of the guys that we've acquired and that we've had in the building that if we had to go play tomorrow, we could play.”
If the Bears believe there is a safety who can improve the roster and that particular player aligns with their big board, he will be a target for Chicago. Over the next three days, Poles' selections will indicate how the team feels about the current players on the team and where upgrades can be made.