The Detroit Lions did not wait long to mess with the Chicago Bears’ offseason. On Jan. 29, Detroit signed former Bears tight end Thomas Gordon to a reserve/future contract for 2026, per the NFL’s official transaction wire.
Gordon is not a household name. He also has not made his NFL debut. But this is still a divisional swipe. It takes a developmental tight end off Ben Johnson’s board and gives Dan Campbell one more piece in Detroit’s building.
Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions grabbed a former Bears tight end
Gordon, a 2025 undrafted rookie out of Northwestern, spent several weeks with Chicago during training camp. He missed the initial 53-man roster cut, then re-signed to the Bears’ practice squad in late December after Chicago placed practice-squad tight end Qadir Ismail on injured reserve.
The Bears did not retain Gordon when they handled most of their reserve/future signings between Jan. 20-21 following their season-ending loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Detroit did. That is the difference between “we can always circle back” and “he is gone.”
The timing also tracks with how Campbell framed Detroit’s approach late in the season. After the Lions beat the Bears 19-16 on Jan. 4, he told reporters, “All right, good win by the guys. Proud of them. That’s the way to finish,” then added, “Our guys fought, man, from the beginning … and we were able to finish it out.” Detroit is treating the offseason the same way.
This is also the type of signing that can come with quiet value. Gordon sat in Chicago’s system. He practiced in that building. Detroit now gets a young player who has lived inside a division opponent’s environment, even if the “tidbits” are small.
Gordon has no regular-season résumé to point to. That is the point. Reserve/future contracts are about the next step, not the last one. Detroit is taking the low-risk swing. Chicago no longer has the option.
Chicago’s tight end room is crowded, but the real pressure sits with Cole Kmet’s contract
If Gordon walked, Chicago can live with it. The Bears already signed three tight ends to reserve/future deals for 2026: Nikola Kalinic, Stephen Carlson, and Qadir Ismail. Carlson and Kalinic also saw the field in 2025 as elevations. Carlson played 14 offensive snaps and 12 on special teams. Kalinic played 29 special teams snaps. That is real usage, even if it is limited.
The bigger picture is already set. Chicago has two core tight ends under contract for 2026: Colston Loveland and Cole Kmet. Loveland produced like a true No. 1 as a rookie. He led the Bears with 58 receptions and 713 receiving yards and tied for the team lead with six touchdown catches in 2025. Kmet added 30 receptions for 347 yards and two touchdowns, giving Chicago a steady second option at the position.
Now comes the part that actually makes the offseason tense. Kmet’s role is clear. His price is the question. The Bears can clear $8.4 million in cap space by releasing him before the league year starts. That is not a rumor. That is a decision point.
Chicago also has to decide how it wants to handle its third tight end. Durham Smythe is headed for unrestricted free agency. He played last season on a $2.5 million deal. He may not chase a bigger number in 2026, but the Bears have a cheaper path if they want it. They can test one of the futures-signing tight ends as the No. 3 instead of paying for familiarity.
Chicago can also keep the room stable and still add competition in the 2026 NFL Draft. The Bears likely will not spend another first-round pick at tight end a year after taking Loveland, but later rounds can still produce a value tight end. The third or fourth round is where that conversation gets real if Chicago chooses to move on from Kmet before the draft.
Even ESPN’s Ben Johnson ranking turned into bulletin-board fuel
The Lions swiping Gordon is one storyline. The bigger rivalry energy is already building around Johnson himself. ESPN NFL writer Bill Barnwell ranked the best hires in the NFL since the 2021 season and placed Johnson in the top 10, but behind two NFC North rivals: Dan Campbell at No. 1 and Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell at No. 7.
Barnwell wrote, “The prodigy. Bears fans treated Johnson like a superstar addition when they landed the Lions' offensive coordinator as their next head coach, and so far, he has generally lived up to the hype. There have been game management issues, especially early in the season, but Johnson quickly built one of the league's best run games and helped refine quarterback Caleb Williams' game.”
He added, “The Bears benefited from excellent timing and good fortune late in games in 2025, which might not stick around, but I'm not sure you can find a Bears fan on the planet who is upset with the decision to hire Johnson after one season.”
That is the kind of praise that still lands like a slight. Johnson went 11-6, won the NFC North, and won a playoff game in his first season. Campbell’s first year in 2021 ended 3-13-1. O’Connell went 13-4 in his first season in 2022 but lost in the wild card round. Barnwell’s list is not a standings table. It is a message.
And now, in the same week, Campbell also reached into Chicago’s tight end pipeline and pulled out a player the Bears chose not to keep. That is not a franchise-altering theft. It is something else.
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