The Bears’ defensive line still needs an upgrade
As the Bears enter the offseason, here’s an evaluation of the defensive line room.
Defensive line
Returning players: Montez Sweat, Austin Booker, Dayo Odeyingbo, Gervon Dexter, Grady Jarrett, Shemar Turner, Jonathan Garvin, Jamree Kromah, Jeremiah Martin
Free agents: Andrew Billings, Daniel Hardy, Dominique Robinson, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, Chris Williams
Looking back: A major question heading into the season was whether the Bears did enough to improve the pass rush. It quickly became evident the answer was no.
Chicago’s defensive line struggled in both the pass rush and run defense. The Bears tied for 22nd with 35 sacks and 24th with 126 quarterback pressures. It led to a Pro Football Focus pass rush grade of 65.4, which rated 25th. Their run defense wasn’t much better, allowing the sixth-most rushing yards per game (134.5).
Sweat put together a good season from the edge. He had 10 sacks, which was tied for 15th in the NFL and the most he’s had with one team during a season in his career. Sweat also had 27 quarterback pressures, which ranked 19th among all defensive linemen in the NFL, and 10 quarterback hurries.
But Sweat didn’t get much support from anywhere else on the line. Booker had 4.5 sacks in 10 games from the outside, while Robinson added 1.5. Odeyingbo, who was the Bears’ top free-agent pass rush acquisition, finished with one sack and six quarterback pressures in eight games before he tore his Achilles tendon.
It wasn’t much better from the inside. Dexter finished second on the team with six sacks and added 22 quarterback pressures. Jarrett battled through injuries and played in 14 games, finishing with 1.5 sacks and 11 quarterback pressures. Turner, one of the Bears’ second-round picks from April, never found his role as he battled an injury for most of training camp and tore his ACL in Week 8.
Poles made one move at the trade deadline to boost the defensive line, adding Tryon-Shoyinka. He played in eight games for the Bears and finished with one quarterback hit.
What’s next: The priority for Poles once again will be to fix the Bears’ defensive line. But it might not be as simple as it seems.
Chicago already invested a good amount of its salary cap space there. Sweat has the team’s second-highest hit with a roughly $25.1 million cap on the books, according to Spotrac. Odeyingbo is fifth on the team with a $20.5 million hit, while Jarrett is seventh with $18.9 million.
Poles could address the defensive line in different ways. He could trade for or sign a top pass rusher like he revamped the offensive line last offseason. Free agent Trey Hendrickson will be a top target for many teams, and many fans are wishing for a trade that would bring Las Vegas Raiders rusher Maxx Crosby to town. But the Bears would need to clear salary cap space for those moves to happen.
Chicago could also invest its top draft picks on defense like it did on offense last year. The Bears hold the No. 25 overall pick in April and have picks in the first five rounds of the draft.
“I think that’s an area we’re going to continue to press and get better,” Poles said. “I look forward to Shemar getting back and Dayo getting back. I thought Sweat did a good job this year. I think sometimes we get hung up on sacks, and sacks are important — he did get into double digits — but I think his all-around game was good. The way he defended the run, defended the perimeter as well as applied pressure, was good. But we need him to continue to get better too, so we’ll evaluate everything.”
Poles also needs to decide if he wants to work out a contract extension with Dexter and whether to pick up his fifth-year option. Dexter has flashed at times but hasn’t played consistently after being selected in the second round in 2023. He has 13.5 sacks over three seasons and 42 quarterback hits.