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Where the Bears Can Turn Their Attention After Cameron Jordan Signed

The list of available edge rushers continued to shrink on Tuesday as the veteran standout returned to New Orleans with the Bears still needing pass-rush help.
Gene Chamberlain|
QB Tua Tagovailoa is pressured by New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan.
QB Tua Tagovailoa is pressured by New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan. | Rich Storry-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The list keeps dwindling.

First it was A.J. Epenesa signing with Philadelphia, and now the Bears have lost the chance to sign another edge rusher who had been called an ideal fit. New Orleans brought back 36-year-old edge rusher Cameron Jordan Tuesday on what NFL.com's Ian Rapoport said was a one-year, incentive-laced deal.

A tie to the Bears was through former Saints coach Dennis Allen, the Bears defensive coordinator. Allen had even commented about Jordan during Bears rookie camp, which hasn't been done much at Halas Hall unless a player actually signed in Chicago.


“My experience with him was outstanding," Allen said. "I mean, Cam's going to be a fricking Hall of Fame player, is a Hall of Fame player. I don't know that there's been a ton of discussion about that. I think we feel pretty good about where we're at and what we have.

"Yet, you never know what opportunities might present themselves at some point down the road."

If so, it would likely be a road in the future and at 37 years old next month there might not be much future left in the league for Jordan. Still, his addition could have helped. He had 10 1/2 sacks last year. As Rapoport pointed, out, he had a more impressive season than Khalil Mack and Mack was given a one-year, $18 million deal by the Chargers to stay in L.A.

So the Bears missed out on a player with 132 career sacks, or 114 1/2 sacks more than the guy the Bears have slated to play there, Dayo Odeyingbo. During minicamp, Odeyingbo did look more advanced with his recovery from an Achilles tear than had been expected and he even got on the field for several team non-contact scrimmages in addition to doing individual work.

Still, with nothing certain and with Shemar Turner's ACL tear keeping him off the field all offseason, the Bears look like they need help rushing the passer.

The Bears had already looked at Buffalo's free agent edge Epenesa before he signed with the Eagles.

Joey Bosa is available still and plays the run well besides rushing the passer. That's always a prerequisite for Allen's scheme. Jadeveon Clowney is another edge free agent in that same all-purpose category but both would be high end signings. Considering they committed to $48 million over three years to sign Odeyingbo, it probably needs to be a lower-budget signing for a player who can join Montez Sweat and Austin Booker, with Odeyingbo, in the rotation on the edge.

That doesn't sound like a big-dollar need. They have only $8.2 million available, but the Saints managed to sign Jordan and had only $8.1 million available. The cap can be twisted with funds reconstituted by restructuring existing contracts.

Veteran Von Miller and former Bears edge Leonard Floyd are out there, as is Tampa Bay's Haason Reddick. Miller's experience might be a valuable influence if added to a rush group that includes a young player like Booker.

Trade rumors persist about the Cardinals dealing edge Josh Sweat. The Bears and Eagles are teams often linked to such a deal.

Perhaps a deal sending a draft pick would entice the Cardinals. Maybe quarterback Tyson Bagent would. There was discussion prior to the draft about trade interest in Bagent confirmed by GM Ryan Poles and by coach Ben Johnson back at the combine. The Cardinals are planning to go with Jacoby Brissett, Carson Beck and Gardner Minshew at quarterback. Whether they would be interested seems unlikely but they could.

Either way, trading a draft pick for an edge rusher with 37 1/2 sacks over the last four seasons would be a huge help to a defense still shorthanded.

The next best option might be Clowney, whose run stopping and pass rush might come at a high cost. Sweat's would, as well, but it's getting too close to training camp now to worry about cost when they have ways of creating some salary cap space.

The need someone else with the ability to provide a sack and also provide rest for starters. Booker looks like a player who could develop into a force after 4 1/2 sacks while playing only 521 of the defense's 1,070 plays on the year. With a full season, he could be an eight-to-10-sack player.

Finding the contributor with five to seven sacks in third-down and obvious passing situations is what they really need. A call to Von Miller wouldn't be a bad idea.

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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.

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