Defensive end Montez Sweat is the Bears’ most important player after rookie quarterback Caleb Williams, and they’re asking a lot from him.
The Bears’ pass rush remains one of their biggest question marks and potential pitfalls for the upcoming season, and they badly need Sweat to be a star. They’re counting on him to be an overwhelming force and to spearhead their defense, no matter how many double-teams and chip blocks he faces.
It’s likely the most a team has asked of Sweat in his six-year career, but it’s a reasonable request, given that he’s the highest-paid player on the Bears’ roster. He has been good, but now he has to be great.
He pushed back on the premise that the pressure is on him to produce, but he said he fully intends to deliver. He made his first Pro Bowl last season with a career-high 12½ sacks and wants to take the next step by claiming an All-Pro spot this season.
‘‘I’m definitely not already there, but I definitely feel like I can get there,’’ Sweat told the Sun-Times on Tuesday. ‘‘Anybody who comes into this league should have aspiration to be All-Pro, Pro Bowl, a gold-jacket guy. What’s the point of doing it if you’re not gonna do it for real?’’
Every player probably does enter the NFL with those ideals, though few have the elite ability it takes to achieve them. Even then, it takes time.
Sweat’s moment might be arriving.
He averaged seven sacks for the Commanders in his first four seasons before breaking through last season with 6½ in eight games for them and another six in nine games for the Bears, who traded a second-round pick to get him and signed him to a four-year, $98 million contract extension.
His sack total was 10th in the NFL, made him one of eight defensive ends chosen for the Pro Bowl and helped earn him the No. 82 ranking in the NFL’s Top 100, as voted on by players. All-Pro is far more exclusive, however. The Associated Press’ All-Pro first team has only two openings for edge rushers, and they went to two players on course for the Hall of Fame — the Browns’ Myles Garrett and the Steelers’ T.J. Watt — last season.
Just as with Khalil Mack, the Bears’ last star pass rusher, opposing offensive coordinators will make taking Sweat out of the equation a priority. He’ll have to rise above it.
‘‘That’s just a part of the league and being a good pass rusher,’’ Sweat said. ‘‘I’ve been getting chipped, double-teamed and slides even since I was in Washington. You just have a pass-rush plan and move forward.’’
If his teammates are able to divert some of that attention from him, all the better, but that didn’t happen much last season. As of now, the Bears are heading into the season with DeMarcus Walker (23 career sacks in seven seasons) as their other starter and are hoping to solidify some depth from a group that features Jacob Martin (18 career sacks), Dominique Robinson (two), Khalid Kareem (one) and fifth-round draft pick Austin Booker.
The Bears brought in veteran Yannick Ngakoue last season, and he had four sacks in 13 games before breaking his ankle. Ngakoue, 29, worked out for the Panthers and Dolphins recently but remains a free agent.
‘‘I’m not going to get into hypotheticals,’’ coach Matt Eberflus said when asked Tuesday whether Ngakoue would be an asset. ‘‘I do like him. I like him as a man. I like him as a worker. He certainly has done good things for us in the past, but that’s speculation.’’
That leaves the Bears all-in on Sweat, which isn’t necessarily a problem. If he elevates his play, it should create a ripple effect of opportunities for other pass rushers to emerge. Teams turn to their stars for major production and to make everyone around them better, and Sweat seems to be ready for it.
