Bears center Drew Dalman to retire at 27

Center Drew Dalman, who played every offensive snap after signing a three-year, $42 million contract with the Bears a year ago, told the team he is retiring, sources confirmed to the Sun-Times on Tuesday.

It’s a shocking move for Dalman, who is only 27 years old. He was the centerpiece — figuratively and literally — of a revamped offensive line that helped boost Caleb Williams from one of the most-sacked quarterbacks of all time as a rookie to the Bears’ single-season passing leader.

Williams nicknamed each offensive lineman after an ‘‘Avengers’’ character. Dalman was ‘‘The Hulk’’ because he was smart, strong and ‘‘the right guy for the job and my future — and our future — here,’’ Williams said in December.

Williams took to social media Tuesday, posting a crying emoji in front of the word ‘‘Hulk.’’

A year ago, Dalman was the prize of the free-agent market among centers. In his first season with the Bears, he earned his first Pro Bowl berth. At the Pro Bowl Games last month in San Francisco, he told the Sun-Times the Bears had more work left to do after losing to the Rams in the playoffs.

‘‘You have a little bit of satisfaction in that you took a step in the right direction and you’re building things the right way,’’ he said. ‘‘You have evidence that the process works, so that’s encouraging. But results-wise, you’re not walking around super-happy about having lost.’’

Dalman is familiar with the toll a long NFL career takes. He’s the son of Chris Dalman, who played in 105 games in seven seasons with the 49ers. He and his father attended Palma High School in Salinas, California, before attending Stanford. The younger Dalman was a mechanical-engineering major and a member of the Pac-12 academic honor roll.

Dalman was slated to count $14 million against the Bears’ salary cap this year. Once he files retirement paperwork, the Bears will be on the hook for a $4 million dead-cap charge in 2026, which is the prorated amount of his signing bonus. The Bears could, if they choose to do so, try to recoup money from previous bonuses in future years. They will retain his rights while he’s on the retirement list.

The Bears thought they had closed their revolving door at center when they signed Dalman. Since cutting Roberto Garza in April 2015, the Bears had used seven starting centers in Week 1. Only two players, Cody Whitehair and Sam Mustipher, started more than one opener in that time. Dalman won’t be the third.

The closest thing the Bears have to a starting center on their roster is Luke Newman, who played in nine games as a rookie guard last year.

The $10 million the Bears will save against the cap undoubtedly will go toward finding Dalman’s replacement. The draft and free-agent classes for centers are strong. The Ravens’ Tyler Linderbaum will become a free agent next week and is considered the top center available, though he might be too expensive for a team with little financial wiggle room. Spotrac.com projects his market value as four years at $70.9 million.

Asked about Linderbaum last week at the NFL Scouting Combine, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said the team ‘‘made him a market-setting offer’’ and hoped to reach a deal before the start of the league year next week.

The Bears spoke with the agents of veteran centers at the combine. The Commanders officially cut Tyler Biadasz on Tuesday, the same day NFL Network reported he was set to visit Halas Hall. He has started 84 games in six seasons, the first four with the Cowboys and the last two with the Commanders.

Other available centers include Graham Glasgow, who played for Bears coach Ben Johnson with the Lions, and the Bills’ Connor McGovern.

Linderbaum was Pro Football Focus’ fifth-ranked center in 2025, and McGovern was tied for 10th. Dalman was eighth.