The general manager of the Chicago Bears, Ryan Poles, made another major trade on deadline day on Tuesday, sending defensive end Montez Sweat, a dangerous addition to a defense that is completely devoid of a pass rush, to the Washington Commanders in exchange for a second-round draft pick.
Poles placed a wager on him and his team to convince Sweat to commit to the Bears in the long run and take part in a second round of roster changes. If so, he will serve as the defense’s cornerstone. The Bears will pay Sweat $6.5 million for the next nine games of the season before his contract expires, so that is the risk involved in the trade.
To keep Sweat on board or buy more time for talks, the Bears may certainly think about using a franchise or transition tag, but for now, they have to be praying that won’t be necessary. Jaylon Johnson, a cornerback who momentarily got authorization to pursue a trade with nothing materializing
A team (perhaps the Atlanta Falcons?) would have acquired Sweat otherwise, and he would not have been able to enter free agency. Therefore, it is plausible that the Bears made the trade for Sweat with an eye toward 2024 and beyond. It’s doubtful that the commanders would have permitted Sweat to enter the marketplace if they had retained him.
It is quite doubtful that the Carolina Panthers will permit Brian Burns to go as a free agent. Put another way, it’s possible that the Bears struggled to locate a player of Sweat’s caliber during the free agent market. Alternatively, they might have looked for leftovers like Yannick Ngakoue, whom the Bears signed to a $10.5 million, one-year contract at the start of training camp this summer. They didn’t want to go back down that route.
We are a little over halfway through the college football season, and as of right now, there doesn’t seem to be a clear-cut edge rusher in the 2024 draft class. Perhaps that will change, but after speaking with a few college recruiters, they don’t find the job very impressive in terms of high-end talent. Yes, there are some interesting opportunities, but as of right now, there are questions.
It’s possible that Poles came to the same conclusion and felt the risk was well worth it if his evaluators were telling him similar things. After all, who knows how Sweat feels about the Bears and Halas Hall?
Without a doubt, a second-round pick is a premium choice. The commanders now possess the Bears selection, which may likely land in the first five picks of the round. There may be a superb player available for the commanders. They might end up with nothing. According to a personnel man, his staff thoroughly examined pick worth over the previous ten seasons. He said it had roughly a 40% chance to discover a reliable starter with a high score, which is what this decision ought to be.
He stated, “A lot depends on the individual class’s depth.” “And you have to nail the pick after that, of course.”
In order to recover the money spent on Sweat, Poles can always move around during the draft, maybe trading down a small distance with one of his first-round selections. The Bears might trade Justin Fields for a pick if they intend to select a quarterback with their first pick.
Sweat, 27, is a player that the Bears already know how to use, so they need to contract him to close this deal. With 32 tackles, two forced fumbles, one pass breakup, and six and a half sacks—one of which came in the Bears’ Week 5 victory over Washington at FedEx Field—Sweat led the Commanders in these stats. He now shares the NFC lead with 10 tackles for loss.
Along with Myles Garrett, Nick Bosa, Joey Bosa, Maxx Crosby, Cam Jordan, and Burns, Sweat is one of seven players since 2019 (the year the Commanders chose him in the first round) to record at least 80 quarterback hits, 30 tackles, and 40 tackles for loss. He is not only a tough run defender but also hunts quarterbacks.
“Montez is a tremendous asset to our group,” a statement from Poles read. He is a nice person in addition to being a great footballer. We anticipate that he will strengthen our defense.
The Bears probably gave Sweat’s teammate Chase Young, the 2020 No. 2 overall draft pick and defensive rookie of the year, some thought. However, Young would have carried a health risk with his right knee’s damaged patellar tendon and torn ACL in 2021. On Tuesday, for an additional third-round pick, the 49ers acquired Young, who was also on an expiring contract.
Sweat’s physical clearance is a requirement for the deal. In 2019, he was red-flagged by certain teams at the combine due to a prior cardiac problem. Before the draft, NFL Media revealed that other teams believed the diagnosis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy—a condition that causes the walls of the heart to thicken—was inaccurate.
With the exception of the time he missed in 2021 due to a broken jaw, Sweat has been a model of durability in the NFL, so the Bears should definitely take a look at this. It’s likely that the Bears have faith in the player to pass their tests.
The Bears acquired Ngakoue because they anticipated that the pass rush would be inconsistent this year—they rank worst in the NFL with just 10 sacks. With no quarterback hits in the previous three games, he has been a letdown thus far. Ngakoue has two sacks, which ties him with T.J. Edwards, a weak-side linebacker, for the team lead. With just five sacks in eight games, Bears defensive ends have combined for 13 quarterback hits, five of which have come from DeMarcus Walker.
Although he won’t accomplish it by himself, sweat should boost the front seven’s complexion, which should benefit Johnson and a young backup cover.
When he dealt wide receiver Chase Claypool to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a second-round selection prior to the trade deadline last season, the Poles made a mistake. The fast-moving failure of that trade undoubtedly taught lessons. Claypool brought up questions about football characters, but Sweat won’t be arriving with them.
With the Bears 2-6, it would have been simple for Poles to remain in the same position and keep evaluating his precise plans for addressing the roster’s many shortcomings during the offseason. However, he looked into every option, including the possibility of dealing Johnson, the team’s top cornerback, and launched a strong offer to acquire Sweat.
The Bears anticipate having more than enough salary cap space—roughly $100 million—to make a number of moves. After continuing talks with Johnson’s camp, Poles must give priority to signing Sweat. The Miami Dolphins, who acquired edge rusher Bradley Chubb in a trade from the Denver Broncos last year, just completed an agreement with Chubb.
Yes, there’s a risk associated with this. Now that the Bears need to sign him, Sweat and his agent have some clout. However, the draft is a gamble in and of itself, and free agency is risky.
