Getty Defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, formerly of the Las Vegas Raiders, waits to take the field before a game against the Washington Football Team at Allegiant Stadium on December 5, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
To be successful next season, the Chicago Bears need to pressure opposing quarterbacks with just their front four. To do so, the team must upgrade its defensive line.
A handful of options remain available to the Bears in this regard, though perhaps the best is free agent pass rusher Yannick Ngakoue, a specialist who has made his career winning off the edge.
Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus on Tuesday, April 4, identified Chicago as the most impactful place Ngakoue can land this offseason.
Ngakoue’s 2022 production makes us wary once you look at his underlying metrics, with his 9.5 sacks this past season well above the expectation of a player with his pass-rush win rate and pressure rate. That being said, he has registered at least eight sacks in every season of his seven-year career and was a more menacing pass rusher on a per-snap basis from 2017 to 2021.
Chicago’s defense under head coach Matt Eberflus likes to get home with four rushers and not rely too heavily on blitzing, with their 18.1% blitz rate in 2022 ranking 28th. This approach leads to an extra emphasis on edge guys winning up front, and while Ngakoue isn’t a complete player, he can get after the quarterback from a wide-nine alignment with the best of them.
Ngakoue Has Been NFL Journeyman Throughout Career
GettyIndianapolis Colts defensive end Yannick Ngakoue is among the best pass rushers still available in free agency in 2023.
Ngakoue is a one-time Pro Bowler (2017) who has played for four teams in the past three seasons. Most recently he racked up 9.5 sacks for the Indianapolis Colts in 2022 after a one-year stint with the Las Vegas Raiders, in which he recorded 10 sacks.
The journeyman defensive end tallied eight sacks total in 2021 for the Baltimore Ravens and Minnesota Vikings. He played the first four years of his career with the Jacksonville Jaguars after that franchise selected him 69th overall in the third round of the 2016 NFL Draft.
Ngakoue has amassed 135 quarterback hits and 65 sacks over the course of his career, while forcing 21 fumbles, intercepting two passes and scoring two defensive touchdowns. He has not produced fewer than 26 quarterback pressures in any of the previous five years, per Pro Football Reference.
Given his limitations against the run, Ngakoue most recently signed a two-year contract worth $26 million total, which he played out in 2022. Spotrac projects his market value at approximately $14.8 million annually over the life of a four-year deal. However, given that Ngakoue remains unsigned into early April, Chicago can feasibly get a better price over a shorter-term contract for the 28-year-old edge rusher.
Bears Could Target Edge Rushers Frank Clark, Jadeveon Clowney
GettyFormer Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Frank Clark is a free agent pass rusher the Chicago Bears may target in 2023.
If the Bears are hesitant about Ngakoue for whatever reason, a couple of other free agent names remain available at the position.
Among them is Frank Clark, formerly of the Kansas City Chiefs, and Jadeveon Clowney, formerly of the Cleveland Browns. Both Clark (29) and Clowney (30) are older than Ngakoue, while both offered their respective teams less production in 2022. Clark produced five sacks in the regular season while Clowney produced only two, due in part to a couple of lingering injuries.
That said, both should also be cheaper options for Chicago than Ngakoue if the Bears decide they want just one-year or two-year deals for their defensive ends while they rebuild and search for a younger, longer-term answer at the position. Clowney put up nine sacks for the Browns just two years ago, while Clark was excellent in the playoffs once again last season, picking up two sacks in three games for the Chiefs on their way to a Super Bowl victory.