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Bears head coach Ben Johnson.

The Chicago Bears seem to have swiped Logan Jones, their new second-round center, from a few teams when they took him in last month’s 2026 NFL draft.

The Bears took a chance on Jones, a four-year starter at Iowa, with the No. 57 overall pick in the second round after having Pro Bowl starter Drew Dalman abruptly retired on them early in the 2026 offseason with two years left on his $42 million contract.

In the aftermath of the draft, though, it became clear that at least one AFC team had plans to target Jones if the Bears had not selected him. According to Justin Kammrad, Jones’ coach at Lewis Central High School (Iowa), an NFC rival had eyes on him, too.

“No. It was sort of a shock for all of us,” Kammrad told the CHGO Bears Podcast about the Bears selecting Jones. “That wasn’t one of the teams that reached out. We had an organization come in, and they sent in two guys, and sat myself and another coach down for two hours and questioned us. So we thought it was going to be them.”

The hosts then asked Kammrad if it had been the Buffalo Bills who had expressed such pre-draft interest in Jones, but he confirmed, “It was the Rams that sent out some secret service agents or something. I don’t know who they were, but it was the Rams.”

Bears Take Revenge on Rams With Logan Jones Pick

The Bears might have held a slight grudge against the Rams heading into the offseason, having sustained a 20-17 overtime loss to them in the divisional round of the playoffs. With Jones’ selection, though, they may have also taken their revenge in a small way.

The only reason that the Bears found themselves in a position to take Jones before the Rams could is because of their divisional-round playoff outcome. Had the Bears won and advanced to the NFC Championship Game to face the eventual champions, Seattle, they would have found themselves picking behind the Rams during the second round.

In the grand scheme of things, the Bears would have likely preferred to advance instead of settling for a reinforcement in future seasons, but it is intriguing to think about how Jones’ selection could come into play as Chicago works to repeat as a playoff contender.

Meanwhile, the Rams are currently on course to maintain their status quo at center and run things back with veteran Coleman Shelton, who had his best career season in 2025. Shelton had spent the 2024 season with the Bears and started all 17 games for them at center, but Chicago let him walk in 2025 free agency after bringing in Dalman.

Bears Also Swiped Logan Jones From Baltimore Ravens

The Bears may have directly ruined the Rams’ plans when they took him off the board with the No. 57 pick, just four picks before L.A. was on the clock in the second round. The Rams were not the only team that came into the draft with eyes for Jones, though.

Following the draft, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta admitted that he had wanted Jones in the third round and had considered trading up to get him if he had still been available. His Ravens needed a new center to replace three-time Pro Bowl starter Tyler Linderbaum, Jones’ successor at Iowa, who signed with Las Vegas in free agency.

“There were two centers that we really liked a lot, and it was Logan Jones and Jake Slaughter,” DeCosta said on The Ravens Lounge podcast on April 29. “We thought both those guys were really, really outstanding players that could really help us — you know, almost immediately come in and help us.

“I was sort of prepared to think about potentially going from 80 up a little bit in the third to get one of those guys if they were there. I’d never really contemplated both guys getting picked after we picked Zion [Young] before the start of the third round, didn’t really contemplate that, but I think that the Bears and the [Los Angeles] Chargers got good players when they did, and it just didn’t work out for us.”