On Edge Over Bears Edge Rusher

Best guess-timates for when the Bears would consider bringing in another edge rusher from among those available always seemed more like a discussion centering on after OTAs or minicamp, or even in training camp.

Last year they were in a similar situation as they are at edge rusher and waited until seeing all of the offseason work to bring in Riley Reiff at the start of training camp.

Maybe they learned something last year about waiting because it seems they might do something soon very soon to plug their hole at edge rusher.

Appearing on WSCR with Dan Bernstein and Laurence Holmes Friday, Bears GM Ryan Poles acknowledged the possibility of bringing someone in at an edge position.

"We'll see, we're working on it," Poles said. "We don't stop working and looking at different avenues to bring players in. There's some options, you know, potentially trade options. There's also some (free agent) guys on the street still that could potentially come in and help us."

As for the time frame, when asked, Poles told Bernstein and Holmes, "'Maybe something that will happen sooner rather than later,'" Poles said.

Sooner could mean just about anything from they've already been talking trade and could announce it, or it could also mean they're going to sign someone soon.

There's also the post-June 1 free agent market, which isn't what it once was in the NFL partly because teams can designate two player moves as post-June 1 ahead of time.

There have been several players speculated about in recent weeks, like former Chiefs end Frank Clark, veterans Yannick Ngakoue and Jadeveon Clowney, and then some trade possibilities such as Washington's Chase Young.

Brad Biggs of the Tribune offered up Carl Lawson of the Jets and Za'Darius Smith of the Vikings as a possibilities in columns last week. Smith got traded on Friday to the Cleveland Browns after he reportedly asked to be released .

Young had a bad knee injury in the past and spent almost all last season rehabbing it.

The Bears had 6 1/2 total sacks from edge rushers last season, including three from Trevis Gipson, 1 1/2 from Dominique Robinson and one each from former Bears Al-Quadin Muhammad and Robert Quinn. The year before Quinn by himself had a franchise record of 18 1/2. Quinn is also a free agent after being traded by the Bears to the Eagles for a fourth-round pick last season.

Bernstein and Holmes also asked Poles about Chase Claypool and whether there is diminished confidence in that trade made last year with Pittsburgh, sending out a second-round pick which turned out to be the 32nd pick of the draft. The issue is whether Claypool even becomes the player anticipated.

"I believe he will," Poles told Bernstein and Holmes. "I think there's a track record, especially when he was in Pittsburgh that leads you to believe he can be a high performer in this league and contribute.

"Now that we're even more balanced across the board, guys at the receiver positions, the tight end positions, we've got more protection in terms of running the ball and staying balanced," Poles said. "And then on top of that you give a full offseason to a guy to create trust and timing with your quarterback. So that's what I'm leaning on right now. We'll see if that happens."

Claypool talked about this as last season ended and whether it actually occurs is something that could become apparent with OTA work on the field starting May 22.

Spotrac.com has the Bears on Friday at $35 million in cap space available, the most in the league. However, they need to take care of their rookie pool with that. Players drafted from the top four rounds remain unsigned.

Poles also said in the interview that they are about to meet to consider which players in line for contract extensions should be offered first. Darnell Mooney, Claypool, Cole Kmet and Jaylon Johnson are among key players who are out of contract after this season.

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