For the second straight season, the Bears made a buyer’s trade as a struggling team. The 2-6 squad sent the Commanders a second-round pick for Montez Sweat. Unlike Chase Claypool in 2022, Sweat is in a contract year, applying some pressure on Ryan Poles‘ staff to reach a resolution.
Rather than wait for free agency, Poles sounds like he is taking the same approach the Dolphins used after trading for Bradley Chubb. Poles said the Bears are working on an extension for Sweat, according to ESPN.com’s Courtney Cronin. The Dolphins reupped Chubb (on a $22MM-per-year deal that will probably be pertinent re: Sweat talks) shortly after acquiring him from the Broncos last year.
Sweat will possess considerable leverage in these negotiations. In addition to being in a contract year, he has joined a Bears team that has deployed the NFL’s worst pass rush over the past two seasons. Chicago, which traded Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn last year, having sent Washington a pick likely to land in the 30s also strengthens Sweat’s position.
The Bears will have the option of franchise-tagging Sweat. Such a move is expected to cost just more than $20MM next year. Considering the difficulties the Bears have encountered in pressuring QBs under Matt Eberflus, it seems a near-certainty Sweat will be tagged if the parties cannot hammer out an extension before the March deadline to designate franchise players. The Commanders appeared prepared to tag either Sweat or Chase Young, but their actions Tuesday paint a different picture about where ownership believes the team stands.
Upon acquiring Mack just before the 2018 season, the Bears had an extension ready. The Raiders balked at paying Mack in 2018, but the Bears authorized a six-year deal worth $141MM. At the time, that $23.5MM-per-year pact made Mack the NFL’s highest-paid defender. Nick Bosa has since moved the goal posts to $34MM per year. Sweat is not where Mack was five years ago or where Bosa is today, having never made a Pro Bowl or reached double-digit sacks in a season. His leverage runs the risk of a Bears overpay, however, so it will be interesting to see if numbers surface during negotiations.
The Panthers are in a similar situation with Brian Burns, though it is what the organization turned down that has armed the 2019 first-rounder with ammo in negotiations. The Rams proposed a two-first-rounder package for Burns, while the Bears pursued him in the March talks that led to the No. 1 overall pick changing hands. Carolina kept Burns out of that deal, leading D.J. Moore to Chicago. Sweat would stand to be interested in what Burns fetches, though the latter is a two-time Pro Bowler.
Rashan Gary does not have a Pro Bowl or a 10-sack season on his resume, but the Packers just made him the game’s fifth-highest-paid edge rusher. The full guarantees in Gary’s deal are not yet known, but that will be a relevant accord for when the Bears and Sweat’s camp exchange numbers.
Sweat, 27, is on pace for his first double-digit sack season, having tallied 6.5 in his final eight Commanders games. He could certainly try his luck on upping his value in a contract year, but the Bears will attempt to lock the former first-round pick down early. An early Sweat extension would free up a tag for Jaylon Johnson, whom the Bears passed on trading Tuesday despite allowing the cornerback’s camp to find a trade partner.