Bears need edge rushers Montez Sweat, Dayo Odeyingbo to be a means to an end

Montez Sweat knew Bears coordinator Dennis Allen’s defense before he ever met him. Dayo Odeyingbo did, too. The reason: a 36-year-old defensive end who was drafted by the Saints before either of them were old enough to drive.

At 6-foot-4, 287 pounds, Cam Jordan has been the prototype for tall defensive ends for a generation. With 121 ½ sacks in 14 seasons and eight Pro Bowls to his name, he’ll be a candidate for the Pro Football Hall of Fame whenever he walks away from the Saints.

“Cam Jordan has always kind of been one of those premier pass rushers in the league,” Sweat said. “It's kind of hard not to watch him when you play my position.”

At 6-foot-6, 270 pounds, Sweat has studied Jordan’s film for the last decade. Same for the 6-foot-6, 286 -pound Odeyingbo. They didn’t need much of an introduction to Allen, then — he coached with the Saints the last 10 years, first as defensive coordinator and then head coach.

“They’re not a defense that plays on their heels or plays to react,” Odeyingbo said. “It’s a defense that wants to set the tone and be the hammer and not the nail. They’re not playing soft. They’re trying to take the ball away. They’re trying to produce negative plays for the offense and play aggressive.”

Now it’s up to Sweat and Odeyingbo to hammer away.

Help is available — at a tremendous cost — around the league. The Bengals’ Trey Hendrickson, who led the NFL in sacks last year, held out to start training camp this year with hopes of receiving a contract extension. Friday, the Cowboys’ Micah Parsons demanded a trade.

While the Bears’ trade for Khalil Mack in 2018 taught many around Halas Hall to never say never, both players are staggeringly cost prohibitive — in terms of trade assets and the price of a new extension — and play for teams unlikely to deal them. Parsons would likely command $40 million per year, with Hendrickson at least $30 million. The Bears are already projected to have the eighth-most salary cap space committed for 2026.

The fastest way for the Bears to fix one of their most glaring problems, then, is for Sweat and Odeyingbo to sack the quarterback.

Since the start of the Matt Eberflus era in 2022, no NFL team has fewer sacks than the Bears’ 90. They were dead last in 2022 and second-to-last in 2023. But even that doesn’t quite capture how bad the Bears’ defensive ends have been.

In 2022, no Bears defensive end had more than three sacks.

In 2023, only three did — and none more than Sweat, who recorded six in his half-season with the Bears after being traded from the Commanders.

In 2024, only Bears two defensive ends had more than three sacks, led by Sweat, who posted only 5 ½.

Rather than chase a more experienced edge rusher in free agency, the Bears bet on Odeyingbo, who turns 26 next month. In four seasons with the Colts, the totaled just 16 ½ sacks — and only three last year. Allen prefers tall defensive ends, though, and the Bears believe the former Vanderbilt star has room to improve.

They paid dearly for that projection, though. The Bears gave him a three-year, $48 million contract. Amazingly, only nine defensive ends in the NFL are on multi-year deals that average more per year than Odeyingbo’s $16 million.

The Bears traded for Sweat in 2023 and quickly gave him a four-year, $98 million deal. Only four NFL defensive ends are on contracts that pay more in total value.

Now the Bears need both players to produce to their salaries.

Sweat grasps the urgency of the situation. Earlier in his career, be it with the Commanders or Bears, Sweat skipped parts of the voluntary offseason program. He spent more time inside Halas Hall this year than any offseason since his rookie year.

Head coach Ben Johnson said a disappointing 2024 — for Sweat personally, and for the 5-12 Bears — “compelled” him to do so.

“He’s committed to this team, he’s committed to getting better,” Johnson said. “I’ve been very pleased with what I’ve seen from him so far.”

Odeyingbo knows that his contract brings with it a pressure to produce. When he’s worried about achieving certain sack numbers in the past, though, he’s struggled. Even though he had three sacks last year, he tied a career high with 17 quarterback hits.

He’s learned to just try to be consistent.

“Focus on the little things,” he said. “The rest of that will come.”

It needs to come for the entire room. No current Bears defensive end ranked higher than 54^th in Pro Football Focus’ pass rush grades last year. Odeyingbo was 75^th, Austin Booker 108^th, Dominique Robinson 125^th and Daniel Hardy 148^th.

On passing downs, Allen figures to slide Odeyingbo to defensive tackle. That means the Bears need a third defensive end they trust. Right now, they’d have to squint — Robinson has two career sacks, Booker has 1 1/2 and Hardy has none. Late addition Tanoh Kpassagnon, who is a. massive 6-foot-7, 289 pounds, has 16 ½ in eight seasons.

Asked about his defensive end depth, Allen singled out Kpassagnon’s experience — he spent four years with Allen’s defense in New Orleans — and Robinson’s improvement since spring workouts. But he’s waiting for someone to emerge.

“With all of these guys, we’re going to temper our evaluations a little bit,” Allen said. “We’re going to get a little bit more into live action and just let this competition play out.”

The Bears have invested in the position — and in Allen.
Now Sweat and Odeyingbo — and their backups — need to produce.

“We can be whoever we want to be,” Odeyingbo said.