Bears’ Rookie Predicted for Breakout Year, as Team Yet to Add FA at His Position

The Chicago Bears exited the NFL draft having addressed multiple prominent positions of need in major fashion, but edge rusher remained a question mark.

General manager Ryan Poles made a unique move by trading a fourth-round pick in 2025 to jump back into the fifth round in April and select defensive end Austin Booker. The move clearly indicates that the Bears’ talent evaluators believe Booker — a raw talent dubbed by most draft analysts as a developmental player — fell far beyond his true value.

Ari Meirov of 33rd Team agreed on August 7, adding that Chicago’s calculated investment in Booker may pay dividends more quickly than even the Bears supposed in late April.

“I was stunned that Booker fell to the fifth round in April’s draft, and clearly, Chicago was as well,” Meirov wrote. “Booker has shown flashes since arriving at rookie minicamp, to the point that the Bears’ pursuit of a veteran pass rusher has cooled off a bit. He continued to impress in the Hall of Fame Game against Houston with a good get-off and power. If he keeps it up, he could cement himself as a rotation player for Matt Eberflus.”

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Bears Have Made No Significant Additions to Edge Group Since Drafting Austin Booker

If Booker can etch out a role as a pass-rush specialist, then one can make the argument Chicago doesn’t need to spend on another starting-caliber defensive end in free agency this August.

The team made that exact move last August when it signed Yannick Ngakoue to a one-year, $10.5 million contract. Ngakoue remains a free agent late into the summer yet again and is a candidate to land with the Bears in 2024 as well. However, he will likely sign on a cheaper deal given that he is one year older (29), posted a career-low of 4 sacks in 2023 and missed four games late in the season due to a broken ankle.

There are a handful of other borderline options for the Bears in free agency, though if Chicago was inclined to add another defensive end, it probably would have happened by now, as less than four weeks separate the team from its season opener against the Tennessee Titans on September 8.

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Bears Have Cap Space to Add Pass Rushers Beyond Austin Booker

The Bears have north of $21 million in salary cap space as of Monday, so taking a relatively inexpensive, short-term flier on a player like Ngakoue isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

However, that they haven’t yet indicates that Eberflus likes the combination of DeMarcus Walker opposite Pro Bowl edge rusher Montez Sweat in the starting lineup. It is also a sign that the Bears have a strong belief in Booker’s ability to offer pressure off the edge in a limited role that includes third-and-long situations, and the like.

That said, Chicago’s two second-string defensive ends are Dominique Robinson and Jacob Martin, per the team’s most recent unofficial preseason depth chart. The two men have produced a combined total of just 6.5 sacks over the past two seasons (2 for Robinson and 4.5 for Martin), and the Bears are absent the type of player who can consistently produce pressure from the interior of the defensive line.

The lack of pressure across the unit as a whole argues — screams, in fact — for investment in one more defensive end or outside linebacker who can line up in a 4-3 scheme and disrupt the pocket. But, in the absence of that, it also adds intrigue into what Chicago must believe it has found in Booker.

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