Bears just got a golden opportunity to bolster the defense with another one of Dennis Allen's former players hitting the market

The main team to watch here is the Kansas City Chiefs. Saunders spent his first four seasons in the NFL with the Chiefs after being a third-round pick back in 2019 (when Bears general manager Ryan Poles served as the Chiefs' executive director of player personnel). He won two Super Bowls with the Chiefs and Kansas City already made a similar move by signing defensive tackle Mike Pennel following his release from the Cincinnati Bengals.

But, don't rule out Chicago as a potential option for Saunders to reunite with Allen. After his four years in Kansas City, Saunders joined the New Orleans Saints as a free agent in 2023 and spent two years with the team playing in Allen's scheme. Back in August, the new coaching staff in New Orleans traded Saunders to the Jaguars, but Saunders has always been a big fan of Allen's system he's now brought over to Chicago.

“It’s a lot of attacking,” Saunders said in 2023. “I feel like there is a lot more looping and just disguises in his defense, which I like, because I love using disguise and deception. Using quickness, people don’t expect me to have it being a nose tackle and being the way that I am, but being able to move quickly and disguise things and stuff like that is a big part of his defense, and I’ve been liking it a lot.”

Playing for Allen, Saunders played in 22 games including 19 starts compiling 73 tackles, 1.0 sack, two tackles for a loss, and three QB hits.

The Bears aren't necessarily hurting in terms of depth on the interior but have room to make an upgrade at the position. The main three interior players in the rotation have been Gervon Dexter Sr., Grady Jarrett, and Andrew Billings. But, the team also gave 32 defensive snaps to Chris Williams and Jonathan Ford rotating in last week against the New York Giants.

Saunders can be an upgrade over both players given his experience and familiarity with the scheme. Even if the Bears add him over someone like Ford, Chicago can still bring Ford back on the practice squad if he's a player the team trusts.

Competition could be there on the waiver wire and there's no harm in kicking the tires on adding Saunders if he's a player Allen wants to bring into the building and work with again.

This story was originally reported by A to Z Sports on Nov 13, 2025, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.