The Chicago Bears baffle me when it comes down to running a football team in the NFL. Instead of being sellers at the trade deadline, they became buyers and for whatever reason, a 2-6 record at the time. The Bears traded a second round pick in next year’s draft for 27 year old defensive end Montez Sweat from the Washington Commanders. The first question after your jaw dropped is Sweat is going to be a free agent so why waste a second round pick on a half of season rental. The Bears were quick withe the defenses and gave Sweat a multi-year contract extension as the Bears have money to burn with their salary cap not yet in handcuffs. I know the Bears need pass rushing and Sweat can provide that. The team could have kept their second round pick and ate their cake by signing Sweat on the open market after the season.

Motez Sweat was drafted by the Commanders in the first round in 2019, number 26 overall. Sweat has played 5 seasons in the NFL and has racked up 35.5 sacks. Sweat this season has 6.5 sacks all with the Commanders as he debuted for the Bears last week versus the Saints. Sweat is a guy that could draw double teams which could leave other guys unprotected going after the quarterback. The Bears as a group coming in last week had only ten sacks as a team. With Sweat on one edge it should give the other edge rusher the Bears signed right before the season started, Yannick Ngakoue, a better chance to improve his game. The Bears threw 10.5 million at Ngakoue on a one year deal at him to pressure the quarterback pretty much by himself. Ngakoue is an 8 year veteran who has played multiple teams in the NFL & has two sacks this season. I can see why the Bears need a guy like Sweat to help other guys and to keep the opposing offenses concerned about a guy they know they have to key on, like Montez. Montez may not rack up the sacks with this Bears defense. Not yet at least he can hit the quarterback often during the game and disrupt his passes.

The Bears’ brain trust this go around has their fans scratching their heads. Guys like Montez Sweat should be added to the roster when the Bears are finally ready to make that final step and be that playoff team. The second round pick GM Ryan Poles gave the Commanders for Sweat is a top 40 pick in next year’s draft. The Bears will have the Carolina Panthers’ number one and they look and play the part of one of the worst teams in the league right now. Then you have the Bears record itself which will grant this team a high pick which gives you two most likely in the first ten picks of the draft. To have that early second rounder gets you three talented players to take off the board. Then adding a Sweat type of player is not a bad idea, but you could have drafted a defensive edge rusher with one of three picks and saved that money from the extension for a rainy day. The Bears still have no quarterback which is a glaring need since the 1940’s when Sid Luckman was behind center. Has Justin Fields developed into that number one guy? I have not seen it. This is the biggest question because will the Bears brain trust trot out Fields next year? Once again thinking and crossing your fingers saying, “this is the year.” The Bears could draft another quarterback in the first round. The Bears would not get that lucky and pick the CJ Stroud type that is already producing in big ways for the Houston Texans. The Bears would pick the other door prize, the guy that will become a lingering project. Like Charlie Brown with his Christmas tree. Whatever the Bears touch at the quarterback position, it instantly dies. Paying veterans like Sweat right now during a bad season makes no sense if the team wanted to get a quality veteran quarterback through trade or free agency. They need to keep money available if they want to go that direction. The Bears are who we thought they were as they run a football team completely backwards and have continued that trend for decades. Why we thought Ryan Poles would be different, it beats me.