Bear Digest

UPDATE: Yannick Ngakoue Signs with Patriots But Won't Face Bears

The Bears didn't sign Yannick Ngakoue back this year after his contract expired and now he has been claimed by the Patriots off waivers but won't play in Chicago Sunday.
Gene Chamberlain|
Yannick Ngakoue hollers at fans in Washington last year after the Bears won 40-20 over the Commanders.
Yannick Ngakoue hollers at fans in Washington last year after the Bears won 40-20 over the Commanders. | Brad Mills-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

For a while it looked possible the Bears could face their old pass rusher on Sunday when they host the New England Patriots.

The Baltimore Ravens waived edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue and the Patriots claimed him Friday.

Ngakoue was not going to have enough time to pick up the New England defensive scheme and as a result, the Patriots on Saturday designated Ngakoue "out" for Sunday's game..

Ngakoue frequently was criticized for being overly concerned with sacks and not worrying about defending the run at other stops and it's not as if the Bears found out something entirely different.

The Bears decided not to bring back Ngakoue after he played out his one-year 2023 contract, and made four sacks in 13 games for them before he suffered a season-ending broken ankle.

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It was the first season Ngakoue failed to pick up at least eight sacks and this year he had 1 1/2 sacks with five tackles, including one for loss, with the Ravens before being waived.

Bears coach Matt Eberflus and GM Ryan Poles were asked about Ngakoue numerous times in the offseason and even as late as the week of the final preseason game.

"I do like him," Eberflus said. "I like him as a man. I like him as a worker. He certainly has done good things for us in the past but again that's speculation and other things like that. But again, I do love him in terms of the man and the player."

Instead, the Bears were interested in Patriots pass rusher Matthew Judon but Atlanta wound up getting the edge rusher in a trade. The Bears traded to acquire Darrell Taylor from Seattle and he is part of their edge rotation with Jake Martin, Austin Booker and starters Montez Sweat and DeMarcus Walker.

Ngakoue eventually signed with the Ravens for a veteran minimum contract type of contract at $1.2 million a year after the Bears paid him $10 million for a season.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.