Skip to main content

Slimmer Pickings for Bears on Edge

After the signing of Frank Clark with Denver, the Bears face the reality of a smaller available edge rusher pool if they hope to add talent.

Beggars can't be choosers in this NFL game of free agency.

The Bears have watched almost all the edge rushers who are unsigned get signed, with the latest being a player who might have been an ideal choice for the type of scheme they are running—Frank Clark, who signed with Denver.

The remaining players have varying degrees of flaws, whether their inability to defend the run and pass, the cost, ego, past injuries or age.

In truth, age shoul be of no concern to the Bears if they know the player is capable of producing an edge rush for one year. This is all they are looking for from this player. It is not a long-term fix at end but just one edge player who has an ability to bring heat in obvious passing situations, and doesn't mind being put into a rotation.

Here's what's left.

1. Trade for Chase Young

Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer said he is convinced the Commanders would listen to offers for Young, but with the ownership situation and potential for a short shelf life with Ron Rivera's coaching staff, there might be no sense of urgency to trade a player who can produce if he's healthy.

Therein lies the rub. Young had one good year in his career as a rookie, and had 7 1/2 sacks. It wasn't a great year, but was promising. After that he suffered a torn right ACL and torn patellar tendon in 2001 and last year returned at season's end obviously not the player he had been before the injury. So will he be worth anything more than a sixth- or seventh-round pick after the injury? The Bears medical staff would need to be at it's sharpest on this one, especially after the Larry Ogunjobi fiasco in GM Ryan Poles' first year on the job.

2. Sign Yannick Ngakoue

This would solve the problem but would Ngakoue want only a one-year contract and would he be reasonable in his salary demand? Clark got $5.5 million for one year. Ngakoue has had better sack production but Clark plays the run and pass. Sacks create cash, though, and all the projections on Ngakoue had been projected at three years and $45 million by Bleacher Report, while Spotrac.com had his projected value at $14.8 million a year. There is no way the Bears would pay this much for a player who is only going to be on the field part time and does one thing. It's highly possible Ngakoue's value has decreased in the market after seeing what Clark pulled down. Whether it's enough is the question the Bears face.

3. Sign Jadeveon Clowney

At this point, this might be the best Bears choice if his value has dropped enough. He'll play the run well and had been an excellent pass rusher. His last deal in Cleveland was one year and $10 million. However, he dropped off the cliff last year at two sacks, four tackles for loss and 12 pressures for 12 games. Whether he fits their locker room mix as an aging veteran hired hand in a group of young rebuilders is the question, after they get beyond the matter of cost.

4. Sign Justin Houston

At 34 years old, Houston's not going to be playing a lot longer but this is only for a year, as stated. And Houston has played for Poles' old team and for Matt Eberflus in the past. His sack production was 9 1/2 last year at age 33 and 8.0 in 2020. The only time in the past six years he has been under eight sacks was in 2021 with Baltimore when he played 15 games. He has been less active in terms of tackles for loss but the Bears are looking here for someone to be in a rotation and last year he served as a backup really for the first time and did it well. This could be the one choice left who hits everything the Bears want. He's not even a concern as a veteran in a young locker room because he's always been a leader type.

5. Sign Melvin Ingram III

ross this one off the list. Although he had six sacks last year, he had two total for the previous two years and in his 11-year career with four teams he has made it over four sacks six times, all of them except last year coming between 2015-2019.

6. Trade for Bryce Huff

Who the heck is Bryce Huff? He isn't a household name. He's not a starter. The Jets have him in a stable of players who can play the defensive line but he's likely available because they worked out a contract agreement with Carl Lawson. Huff has had 7 1/2 sacks in three years and 823 defensive plays. The only time he started was in 2021 and he was in 51% of those snaps, with seven starts. If it's an undrafted player from Memphis the Bears want for a draft pick in exchange, Huff is your guy. He is 6-foot-3, 255 pounds and is 25 years old. The reason his name even comes up on this list is he ranked first in the NFL in pass-rush win rate (28%) and pressure rate (20.8%)

7. Sign Robert Quinn

Good old Robert left after an ineffective first half to the 2022 season in a trade. He had one good season in the three he spent in Chicago with a spectacular franchise-record 18 1/2 sacks in 2021. However, he's 33 now and a bit undersized for an edge in the Eberflus defensive scheme at 245 pounds. This is a case of been-there, done-that.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven