Three years ago, the Bears made an aggressive draft-day trade to land who they hoped would be the savior of the franchise, giving up two firsts and two Day 3 picks to pick up Justin Fields. It never really came together for the former Ohio State product, but Chicago's decision to stick with him last year rather than draft his replacement ultimately enabled them to have the opportunity at the No. 1 pick again this year (thanks, Carolina), using that to turn the page on the Fields era and start over with Caleb Williams.

Williams is a rare No. 1 overall pick at quarterback who is not walking into a disaster of a team thanks to the Bears finishing 7-10, using a pick acquired from the Panthers last year to bring both him and a dynamic, young receiver in Rome Odunze into the fold. With Keenan Allen and D'Andre Swift previously added to the offense, the hope is that a massively upgraded set of weapons combined with the upside of the consensus No. 1 overall selection will lead to the first 4,000-yard passer in Bears history (no, really). Not only are the Bears the only current NFL team without a 4,000-yard or 30-touchdown passer in franchise history, their rookie franchise records of 2,193 passing yards and 11 passing touchdowns seem not long for the history books unless something catastrophic happens to Williams over the next few months.

On the other side of the ball, the Bears defense took off following the midseason acquisition of Montez Sweat, and though they made a run at going over their preseason win total of 7.5, they fell just short. Expectations are higher this year after the offseason Chicago has had, but the Bears play in one of the tougher divisions in the league and they haven't had a legitimately good quarterback in, well, ever? If Williams can change that as a rookie, the sky may be the limit for Chicago.

Below, we'll go through the futures and win total markets for the 2024 Chicago Bears, sharing recently updated odds from major U.S. and Nevada sportsbooks as well as the SportsLine Projection Model forecast for each betting market. We'll then take a look through the schedule, share my power ratings line projections for every game and note any rest or travel advantages or disadvantages to remember. Then we'll examine the changes to the depth chart and what the effect of each could be, before wrapping up with our early forecast of what to expect from this team in 2024.

What are the key factors to consider before locking in Chicago Bears futures bets? And how does the SportsLine Projection Model see the season going? ... Join SportsLine right now to see Bears betting strategy from the expert who's 636-534-34 on ATS picks from 2017-23, returning $4,899 to $100 players!