Getty Chicago Bears defensive end Montez Sweat.
The Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers don’t need any more reasons to dislike each other, but on Friday they found a new one anyway.
While the preceding context remains unclear, Bears defensive end Montez Sweat took to social media on March 15 to air his grievances with Packers pass rusher Preston Smith and cornerback/kickoff returner Keisean Nixon.
I done developed a real rivalry with Green Bay blame @PrestonSmith91 & @keiseannixon it’s up🤬👿
“I done developed a real rivalry with Green Bay blame @PrestonSmith91 and @keiseannixon it’s up 🤬 😈,” Sweat posted to X.
Smith responded in short order with an X post of his own.
“🤷♂️ see you on the other side,” he wrote.
Not long after, Nixon chimed in with slightly more inflammatory comments than those from Smith.
“This ain’t no rivalry Boi… #GoPackGo,” Nixon wrote.
Packers Bested Bears in Both Regular Season Matchups Last Year
GettyDefensive end Montez Sweat of the Chicago Bears.
Sweat’s public declaration of a feud with the Packers based on words and/or actions from Smith and Nixon is interesting, as Sweat is so new to the NFC North Division.
Chicago traded a second-round pick to the Washington Commanders to acquire Sweat in late October 2023, before ultimately signing him to a four-year extension worth $98 million that will keep the edge rusher in the Windy City through the 2027 campaign.
Sweat has played only one game against the Packers as a member of the Bears, which took place in Week 18 — the last time Chicago was on a professional field of play. The contest was held at Lambeau Field, where the Bears fell to the Packers by a score of 17-9.
The win carried Green Bay into the playoffs, where the team defeated the Dallas Cowboys over Super Wildcard Weekend before falling on the road to the San Francisco 49ers by just 3 points in gut-wrenching fashion. Sweat tallied 3 tackles in that game, including 1 tackle for loss.
The Packers also bested the Bears in Chicago by a score of 38-20 in Week 1, though Sweat was still a member of the Commanders at that point.
Montez Sweat Was Bears’ Best Edge Rusher in 2023, Despite Playing Just 9 Games With Chicago
GettyDefensive end Montez Sweat of the Chicago Bears.
While Sweat is relatively new to Chicago and the division, he was a meaningful member of the team’s defense across nine starts last season.
Sweat finished the year with a total of 12.5 sacks between the Bears and Commanders, six of which came after switching teams ahead of the trade deadline. Sweat finished the campaign as the only player in NFL history to lead two franchises in sacks in the same season and earned the first Pro Bowl nod of his five-year career in the process.
Chicago was the worst team in the league two years ago in terms of bringing down opposing quarterbacks, finishing the 2022 season with just 20 total sacks. That figure jumped 50% to 30 sacks in 2023, in no small part because of Sweat’s arrival, though the tally was still good enough for just 31st out of 32 NFL teams.
The Bears are nearly certain to address their deficiency at edge rusher this offseason, and could do so as early as the first-round of the 2024 draft, in which they currently hold the rights to pick Nos. 1 and 9.