The Bears haven’t done much to address their pass rush this offseason, so the team is naturally in the market for some reinforcement on the edge. According to Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun Times, the Bears are still shopping around for pass rush help.
“We’re interested in a lot of guys at all positions right now,” head coach Matt Eberflus said. “We’re just excited about being able to look at those guys and potentially add as we go through camp and getting closer to the season.”
The Bears finished last season with a league-low 20 sacks, and the team’s only notable addition on the edge was DeMarcus Walker, who had a career-high seven sacks for the Titans last season. The team also returns some depth at the position; Trevis Gipson has compiled 10 sacks over the past two seasons, and Dominique Robinson showed some promise during his rookie campaign.
“I’m focused on the guys we have here,” said defensive line coach Travis Smith. “That’s not my job to go look outside. That’s for Mr. Poles and [Eberflus] to decide. If they come ask me a question, I’ll offer my opinion on it. But the guys that we have, the 15 guys in the room that we have, coaching every day to get better.”
As Finley notes, the Bears have plenty of connections to the remaining crop of free agent edge rushers. Justin Houston played for Eberflus when the two were in Indianapolis, while Yannick Ngakoue played under Smith when they were in Las Vegas. Bears GM Ryan Poles also has connections to Melvin Ingram and Frank Clark from his Kansas City days.
The Bears are willing to give at least one of the current free agent edge rushers a one-year deal, per Finley. The team will probably wait out the market as they look at add to the position on their financial terms.
Give Travis Smith a chance to develop some young player because a one year deal to some 34 yr old isn’t going to advance the rebuild at all.
Probably waiting for Ngakoue’s price to come down, he’s only 28 so he would fit the youth movement a bit … also probably keeping cap space for training camp cuts
He rushes pass the quarterback on every rush, he can’t play with any power. Five teams in three years is evident of that.
Poles will smartly wait it out, and then sign a veteran to a cheap one-year deal that doesn’t impact the plan moving forward. Hopefully, that veteran will provide a small impact and more importantly some mentorship for the younger players.