Bear Digest

Bears Have No Vacancies for Shaq Leonard

Why Shaq Leonard signing with Matt Eberflus in Chicago doesn't work at this particular time.
Gene Chamberlain|
Bears Have No Vacancies for Shaq Leonard
Bears Have No Vacancies for Shaq Leonard

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Chicago Bears

Plenty of Bears fans apparently know their Matt Eberflus history well.

As soon as word came out Tuesday that the Colts had decided to put Shaq Leonard on waivers, the cries for the Bears to sign him or conjecture they would sign him became an overwhelming social media theme.

Leonard's playmaking ability at weakside linebacker was key in the Tampa-2 style of defense the Colts played under Eberflus.

It's too bad it wasn't DeForest Buckner the Colts released. 

The Bears can use a three technique who still plays at a high level.

The Bears have no reason to sign Leonard unless they have more injuries at linebacker. There are several reasons why he'd be a non-fit in Chicago at this point.

1. The Injury

Sadly, the release of Leonard occurred not because of scheme but because he hasn't been producing after his two back surgeries last year. He's no longer the same player.

When Leonard was at his peak before the two injuries, he was a turnover machine. Eberflus has raved about his former player making big plays, stripping the ball and playing the way a weakside linebacker in this system should play.

He had 30 pass defelections and 17 forced fumbles in his first four seasons. The eight forced fumbles in 2021 led the league.

When the debate raged on about signing Roquan Smith to the $100 million deal he wanted, the comparison to Leonard was embarrassing. Smith had one forced fumble with the Bears and still has only one forced fumble for his entire career.

Leonard also had 12 interceptions.

Leonard has had only one interception and no forced fumbles since his back surgery. He led the league in tackles as a rookie with 163 but that total came down gradually as the Colts changed how he was used. But he has just 65 tackles this year and only two for loss since his surgery. He had 30 for loss before his surgery.

Another big plus Leonard had was his pass rush. When the Colts didn't have a dominant edge rusher, he provided a pass rush with seven sacks as a rookie and five his second year. He's had none since the start of 2021.

2. Addendum

As an add to the injury issue, this isn't a case where Leonard simply doesn't fit the system Colts defensive coordinator Gus Bradley is playing, even though he was reportedly complaining he wants a bigger role on defense.

Bradley uses a 4-3 and many concepts the Colts used with Eberflus, though not necessarily the HITS principle.

The production just hasn't been there since Leonard's back surgeries.

3. T.J. Edwards

The Bears have a weakside linebacker and he's playing above the level for that position that Smith was playing at when the Bears traded him.

Edwards leads the NFL in tackles with 121, including five for loss. He has been with the Bears for 11 games and has the same number of forced fumbles in that period that Smith has for his whole career.

Edwards has three forced fumbles for his career and one for the Bears. He also has a fumble recovery and an interception.

Edwards' play has been one of the strong points with the Bears defense through its struggles, so they're not going to dump an effective weakside linebacker to grab another one with recent injury issues.

Signing him as a third linebacker makes little sense from a strategic standpoint because they're not moving Edwards to strongside or middle linebacker or Treamine Edmunds there, either. Edmunds currently has a knee injury but it wasn't serious enough to sideline him last week.

4. Money

As always, this is huge. It seems unlikely anyone is going to claim Leonard on waivers. They'd be paying him at his current contract rate and he's in only the third year of the $98.5 million deal.

However, when he clears waivers he can sign another deal with some team. Because of his past as an effective linebacker, it's likely he'd still command a decent offer somewhere.

The Bears have already given out a $72 million deal to Edmunds and $19.5 million to Edwards this year. They're up against the cap with just $5.5 million to spend this year according to Spotrac.com.

They might want to get a deal with Jaylon Johnson before free agency and there is always the looming Justin Fields extension.

The cap doesn't need a hit from another linebacker who would seem like a spare part.

It would have been a good idea at the end of last season if there was proof this was the same player as before the injury.  Now it isn't.

Time waits for no one in the NFL.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven

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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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