Bears Looking To Trade For Pass Rusher?

The ESPN scribe does not identify a particular trade candidate. The Bears explored the possibility of a Maxx Crosby acquisition before the failed swap between the Raiders and Ravens earlier this offseason, but while a June report suggested teams are still interested in pursuing Crosby, nothing has materialized on that front. 

Josh Sweat is a logical target given the Cardinals’ status as a rebuilding club, but Arizona seems adamant about keeping its marquee free agent addition from 2025 in the fold for the upcoming season. Similarly, the Giants have set a high asking price on Kayvon Thibodeaux despite the fact that he is entering the last year of his current deal and may not be back with Big Blue in 2027 due to the club’s more recent investments in its EDGE group. 

The Dolphins’ Chop Robinson is another speculative target, though the 2024 first-rounder regressed a bit in his second professional season, and Miami – another outfit in the midst of a rebuild – may want to continue developing him. At this point in the year, a trade is the best way to acquire a clear difference-maker, as the free agent market is largely bare.

On the other hand, the Bears have just $5.5MM of cap room at the moment, and they only got to that figure by virtue of a series of recent restructures. Any deal for an established player could necessitate further cap maneuvers on Poles’ part.

One of the restructured players was Dayo Odeyingbo, whose underwhelming performance and torn Achilles made the first year of the three-year, $48MM deal he signed with Chicago last March something of a bust. The Bears are nonetheless counting on Odeyingbo to play a big role in their pass rush alongside Sweat and 2024 fifth-rounder Austin Booker. 

The team lost some interior pass rushing presence when it recently traded Gervon Dexter to the Falcons in an effort to bolster a secondary that is arguably as suspect as the EDGE talent. As Graziano observes, a quality addition to the front four would have a positive trickle-down impact on the Bears’ defensive backs.