Usually, teams who buy at the NFL’s annual trade deadline are contenders trying to bolster their roster for a deep playoff run. For the second straight year, the 2-6 Chicago Bears broke this precedent when they traded a 2024 second-round pick to the Washington Commanders for pass-rusher Montez Sweat.
Chicago likely felt comfortable surrendering more draft capital for an older (arguably lesser) Commanders defender (cough, cough, ahem) because the idea was that Sweat would be their franchise pass-rusher moving forward. After an extension for a guy in the last year of his rookie contract, Sweat would become a part of their long-term future.
But there’s the rub.
According to ESPN’s Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler, the Bears traded for Sweat without an extension in place and without significant extension talks already happening. They essentially bought a lottery ticket to get ahead of the crowd of teams who could clamor for Sweat in March’s free agency. Now, after general manager Ryan Poles previously failed to extend former Bears linebacker Roquan Smith and currently disgruntled cornerback Jaylon Johnson (who they reportedly low-balled), they will try their very best to extend Sweat instead of using the dreaded franchise tag on him. Never mind that Sweat preferred to play with the Atlanta Falcons and has all the leverage in the world on the Bears, given what they surrendered to acquire his services.
Oh, good, they’re going to try.
Nothing official on the schedule at this point, but I am told the Bears will at least make an effort to try to sign Sweat to a long-term deal before the end of the season.
Words cannot do this potential blunder by the Bears proper justice, but I’ll try anyway. Poles has already shown he has a horrific team-building process, continually chasing Bears needs he himself creates or weirdly didn’t address before. With his team 2-6 and likely needing a reset at quarterback next year — sorry, Justin Fields — the last thing the Bears should’ve been doing is pursuing second-tier pass rushers. But if they were going to make a move, the smart play would’ve been ensuring you could get an extension on the said player, who may or may not want to be there in the long run.
None of that happened with the Bears and Sweat. And if they end up using the franchise tag on him, they risk losing Johnson, another franchise defender they’ve already seemingly alienated. If you’re ever looking for evidence as to why the NFL’s worst marquee team is stuck in the doldrums, the Sweat trade and all the details surrounding it should be a preeminent example.
