Getty Yannick Ngakoue was officially signed to the Chicago Bears' roster on Thursday, August 4.
The Chicago Bears are cutting a former fourth-round pick from their defensive end room to clear room for veteran pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue on the roster.
According to the team’s official transaction wire for Friday, August 4, the Bears have officially signed Ngakoue to his one-year, $10.5 million contract and waived former Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jalyn Holmes to free up a spot on the 90-man roster.
The Vikings originally drafted Holmes, 27, in the fourth round (No. 102 overall) of the 2018 NFL draft, but he recorded just 43 tackles and one sack over his first three seasons and 25 games with the team and was waived at the end of his fourth training camp. The Bears added him to their practice squad midway through the 2022 season and had been planning to let him compete for a depth/practice-squad role with the team in 2023, but his upside appears to have vanished with the addition of a proven vet in Ngakoue.
The Bears are also signing veteran tight end Marcedes Lewis to a one-year contract for 2023, as head coach Matt Eberflus confirmed during his Friday press conference, but his signing process was not far enough along for him to be included in the day’s transactions. When Lewis is added to the roster, though, Chicago will need to make another corresponding roster cut — perhaps one of the four tight ends on the bubble.
Bears View Yannick Ngakoue as an ‘Every-Down End’
The Bears signing Ngakoue to their roster fulfilled the predictions of many analysts throughout the offseason. The 28-year-old has been one of the better pass rushers on the market since the first big wave of free agency ended and had played in defensive schemes similar to the 4-3 defense that Eberflus runs with the Bears. Given their need for a sack-generating defensive end, the fit just made too much sense.
Unlike some of those analysts, though, the Bears do not simply view Ngakoue as a pass-rushing specialist for their defense. While the Bears signed a pair of run-stuffing ends — DeMarcus Walker and Rasheem Green — during free agency, Eberflus says they are planning on the newly-signed Ngakoue to be an “every-down end” for their defense.
“We see him as an every-down end, so he’s going to have to play in those [run] situations, and he’s done it,” Eberflus said Friday. “He’s been good at it, and we’ve got to make sure that he sharpens that part of it as well, and he will do that. We’re excited where he is in terms of being an every-down defensive end for us.”
Ngakoue will certainly have to prove the analytics guys wrong about his run defense. Pro Football Focus has graded him in the 40s or lower as a run defender in each of his past three seasons, and it is likely one of the reasons why he didn’t receive a major run of interest from teams at the beginning of free agency. If the Bears can push him to be his best self, though, he could have a chance to extend his stay beyond one season.
How Many DEs Will Bears Keep for 53-Man Roster?
Ngakoue is one of the more impactful free agent signings of the offseason for the Bears right behind linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards and guard Nate Davis. With his arrival, though, comes certain questions about the four other pass rushers in the defensive end room who figured to be near-locks to make the 53-man roster.
Let’s start with the safest bets: DeMarcus Walker and Trevis Gipson. Walker just signed a three-year, $21 million contract with the Bears in free agency and figures to be the top candidate for starting opposite Ngakoue on the defensive line. Meanwhile, Gipson is heading into the final year of his rookie contract and, with 10 sacks in the last two years, has at least enough upside to lock in a key rotational role for the defense in 2023.
The less-secure options are Dominique Robinson and Rasheem Green, but chances are good that Robinson will earn the benefit of the doubt as a 2022 fifth-round pick. That leaves Green to potentially become the odd man out despite only just signing in April. The Bears would have to eat $850,000 of Green’s $2.47 million contract if they waived him during roster cuts, according to Over the Cap, but it is a small price to pay for a cap-rich team like Chicago — who may prefer to keep extra bodies at other positions.
Even if the Bears do decide to keep five defensive ends for their 53-man roster, Green will need to flex his veteran experience in the month ahead to avoid being bumped out by a younger and less expensive defensive end. Undrafted rookie D’Anthony Jones is a name to watch as a surprise roster contender, having recorded 14 sacks and 22 tackles for loss over his final two seasons as a primary contributor for Houston’s defensive line.