Bears linebackers absorb analyst's hit suggesting need for change

"Tremaine Edmunds earned just a 59.2 PFF overall defensive grade in 2024, marking his second straight season of a sub-60.0 figure," Sikkema points out.

Edmunds has five interceptions, 15 pass deflections, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, 223 tackles and eight for loss since arriving in Chicago.

He's often compared to former Bear Smith, but the two played different positions in the Bears' scheme. Smith was actually playing weakside linebacker which is T.J. Edwards' position.

Edwards' two-year production has been four interceptions, 10 pass deflections, two forced fumbles, four recoveries, 20 tackles for loss and 6 1/2 sacks to go with 284 tackles.

Sikkema's point is the Bears can get out of Edmunds' contract after this season.

Their out is if they choose to cut him or trade him it's a $15 million cap savings with $2.437 million lost to dead cap hit according to Overthecap.com. Whether Edmunds' production is solid this year or not, it's a lot of savings to resist for a team that's already $7.2 million over the projected 2026 salary cap.

Sikkema also criticizes Edwards' play from last year but the Bears apparently aren't on board with this. They gave Edwards a contract extension through 2027 at $20 million total, $16 million guaranteed. There is no out after the 2025 season for them on that deal unless they want to dine heavily on dead cap cash.

While the point of Sikkema's article is to bring up linebacker as a potential area for Bears 2026 draft focus , it's worth noting they may have already addressed this with the selection of Ruben Hyppolite II. He has flashed the kind of speed that could lend itself to playing middle linebacker.

Hyppolite played the middle position in college, although the Bears would be giving up a lot in height and reach in their secondary with him instead of Edmunds. However, the speed factor would be more important than height and reach in their current scheme than it was in the Matt Eberflus zone scheme. Coordinator Dennis Allen's defense relies much more on man-to-man coverage.

The other problem with what Sikkema suggests is it ignores two other real Bears defensive needs for that future draft for one they may have already addressed. That's edge rusher and safety.

Unless Austin Booker and/or Dominique Robinson develop suddenly at pass rush, or safety Jaquan Brisker can be more durable than in the past, their needs at both of those spots far outweigh linebacker.

In fact, they still don't have a single safety out of their top four under contract for next year. They'd be replacing the entire safety corps unless extensions are forthcoming.

This becoms a little more urgent than drafting another linebacker.