Getty Defensive end Yannick Ngakoue of the Chicago Bears.
The Chicago Bears face multiple big-money decisions in free agency, which means some starters with name-recognition are probably on their way out of town come March.
Alyssa Barbieri of USA Today’s Browns Wire on Wednesday, February 7, predicted that defensive end Yannick Ngakoue will be among the group of big-money players departing.
“Yannick Ngakoue was signed to a one-year deal to bolster the league’s worst pass rush, but he didn’t have a significant impact with the Bears,” Barbieri wrote. “With Montez Sweat coming off a Pro Bowl campaign, Chicago will look to pair him with a younger, cheaper option.”
Yannick Ngakoue Failed to Live Up to Lucrative 1-Year Deal With Bears
GettyDefensive end Yannick Ngakoue of the Chicago Bears.
Ngakoue tallied at least 8.0 sacks in all seven of his professional campaigns before arriving in Chicago ahead of the 2023 season.
The defensive end battled some injury issues, playing in just 13 of 17 games last year. However, even when he was on the field, Ngakoue wasn’t the same type of performer he’d been throughout his career to that point.
He finished the season with a career-low 4.0 sacks and only 7 quarterback hits, which was also the lowest tally of his NFL tenure. He garnered 11 pressures total, which was a career-worst, per Pro Football Reference.
The Bears inked Ngakoue to a one-year, $10.5 million deal in early August, which is incredibly late in the offseason process to add a player on that type of contract. The move came after general manager Ryan Poles‘ attempts to fill the position in the 2023 draft fell short.
Poles explained those developments by contending that a player at the defensive end position with the appropriate value never presented himself as the obvious pick at the point of any of Chicago’s 10 draft selections. He also said over the summer that the team would eventually add a pass-rusher, and Ngakoue ended up being that guy.
Montez Sweat Produced Pro Bowl Campaign in Contract Year With Chicago
GettyDefensive end Montez Sweat of the Chicago Bears.
It was Poles’ trade with the Washington Commanders for Sweat in late October that got the Bears the edge defender they’d sought for much of the previous year.
Chicago gave up its second-round pick in 2024, which ended up falling at No. 40 overall, for the rights to Sweat’s deal. Free agency would have following the season for Sweat, except the Bears inked him to a four-year extension worth $98 million.
Sweat rewarded the franchise with his first Pro Bowl appearance following a season defined by a career-high 12.5 sacks. The defensive end became the first player in NFL history to lead two teams in sacks, registering 6.5 for the Commanders and 6.0 for the Bears. Sweat also finished the season with a career-high 40 pressures as well as 25 QB hits. He was responsible for four fumbles and notched three pass breakups.
Chicago will probably look for a defensive end to replace Ngakoue in the draft, though analysts also expect the team to select a quarterback early in the first round. The Bears have potential needs at wide receiver, defensive tackle and offensive tackle.