Last season after the Bears got rid of all their old defensive stars, the defense was looser than a whore house giving away free cake. The Bears were able to find out about what they had in young players as a local kid Jack Sanborn turned some heads at the linebacker position. He had 64 tackles of which 50 of them were solo. When you see a player with heart when your team is getting mauled every Sunday by the opposing team’s offenses, you can most certainly somebody check the box that Sanborn is a keeper. The Bears found themselves a carbon copy of Sanborn – a little bit older but both players come from the same journey to the NFL as undrafted free agents. The Bears sign T.J Edwards, a 26 year old linebacker from the Philadelphia Eagles who is also a local kid from Chicago. He’s actually a former teammate of Sanborn as their paths crossed in 2018 playing college ball at the University of Wisconsin. Edwards is a tackling machine that helped the Eagles maintain one of the best defensive units in the league which helped Philadelphia get back to the Superbowl. The Bears made a splash on the same day as getting Edwards, they inked the Bills’ heart and soul of their defense, Tremaine Edwards, to a 4 year deal. Head Coach of the Bears, Matt Eberflus has three linebackers that can chase the opponents down with high speed and what they do best is make the tackle.

In 2019, T.J Edwards came out of the University of Wisconsin undrafted, signed with the Eagles, and made the squad playing all 16 games in which 4 of them he started. In his first year, Edwards had 30 tackles of which 15 of them were solo. In 2020, Edwards showed improvement – he started 12 games, had 70 tackles with two sacks, and an interception. In 2021, Edwards became a defensive pillar on the Eagles defense starting all 16 games and racking up 130 tackles which 5 of them were for loss. Edwards also had 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery, while defending 5 passes. Last year, Edwards even got better as he has 159 tackles which is record for third in Eagles history in one season. Edwards also had 2 sacks, ten of his tackles were for a loss of yardage while defending 7 passes and picked up a fumble recovery while playing all 17 games. In four seasons, Edwards has 389 tackles on the back of his football card with 5 sacks and 20 tackles for loss of yardage in 61 games. It’s pretty exciting to be a Bears fans with this line backing crew.

T.J Edwards said, “When the home team comes calling, it’s time to head home.” Edwards is a Lake Villa native who grew up a Bears fans liking guys like Lance Briggs, Brian Urlacher, Mike Brown, and Devin Hester. Edwards loved seeing his old friend & Badger teammate, Jack Sanborn, having success with the Bears. Edwards felt a tad jealous not playing for the home team. The Bears also drafted Cole Kmet in 2020, another local guy who played high school football in Arlington Heights which in a few years could be the new home for the Chicago franchise. With Sanborn, Edmunds, and now Edwards, you have a trio of young linebackers in the prime of their career. In 2006, Briggs, Urlacher and Hunter Hillenmeyer were a very impressive group. I may be looked at like I have three heads saying this trio could be the next Monsters of the Midway group that help win the Bears’ only Superbowl in the best defense of all-time… the ’85 team. That ’85 team had Mike Singletary, Otis Wilson, and a force to be reckoned with… Wilbur Marshall. I shouldn’t be this giddy right now as this is the Bears & they always screw things up. I was not sure the Bears would crank the gear into overdrive in the free agency market. I thought they would build this thing slowly through the draft & then spend the big bucks at Menards on all the power tools. The Bears general manager is not getting washed up veterans like some of the old regimes. Ryan Poles is getting talent from guys in their mid 20’s looking for their second contract in the NFL. Local guys that liked the Bears growing up that are very talented, I always thought they were Packers fans as the cheese heads have infiltrated the Chicagoland area the last 30 years. Welcome home and go Bears!!!