The Chicago Bears have lost another defensive lineman to a season-ending injury, sparking rumors of a potential move before the NFL trade deadline.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Bears starting edge rusher Dayo Odeyingbo tore his Achilles in Sunday’s 47-42 win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 9 and will miss the rest of the season, removing another vital piece from Chicago’s defensive front.
“Sources: #Bears standout edge Dayo Odeyingbo, a big-ticket signing in free agency, has torn his Achilles and is out for the season,” Rapoport reported Monday on X.
The Bears shelled out the big bucks to sign Odeyingbo in free agency, inking him to a three-year, $48 million contract in the first wave as a pass-rushing partner for veteran starter Montez Sweat on the other side of their defensive line. In eight games, though, he tallied just one sack, two tackles for loss and four quarterback hits for the Bears.
With Odeyingbo out for the season, the Bears are down to Austin Booker and Daniel Hardy as the only two healthy pass rushers on their 53-man roster aside from Sweat.
The Bears also lost rookie defensive end Shemar Turner to a season-ending ACL tear in Week 8’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Additionally, Dominique Robinson is nursing a high-ankle sprain that the team expects will hold him out for a few more weeks.
That could force the Bears to explore their options for adding another pass rusher to their roster before the league deadline for trades passes at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
Which Edge Rushers Could Bears Target in a Trade?
The Bears have been regularly mentioned as potential buyers on the edge rusher market before the NFL trade deadline for several weeks now, but Odeyingbo’s injury — paired with the other glaring issues for the 5-3 team — makes it much more likely to happen.
While the Bears have big money sunk into the edge rusher position between Sweat (a team-high $25.08 million cap hit in 2025) and Odeyingbo ($8 million cap hit), they entered Week 9’s game against the Bengals tied with the Carolina Panthers for the third-worst pass rush win rate (31%) in the league, according to ESPN Analytics.
On the positive side, Sweat has seemed to hit his stride for the Bears in recent weeks, logging three sacks in his last three games. But without a more efficient partner for him on the other side of the line, the Bears could have trouble staying in the divisional fight.
The question is: Who can the Bears even target at this point?
On the higher end, the Bears could explore a trade for Pro Bowler Trey Hendrickson, but The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported Monday that the Bengals “are still asking for” a first-round pick for Hendrickson, making him far less likely for the Bears. Kayvon Thibodeaux, a former top-5 pick, is also a possible target, but the New York Giants may want a similar return — or at least ask for a second-rounder as compensation.
Elsewhere, experienced pass rushers, such as Jermaine Johnson II (New York Jets) or Dre’Mont Jones (Tennessee Titans), could present the Bears with lower-cost solutions.
Bears Could Avoid Trades & Lean Into Austin Booker
The back-to-back weeks of injury blows to the Bears’ defensive end room have left them startingly low on depth off the edge, but they might still stand pat at the deadline — at least in terms of making a big play to add another pass rusher to their active roster.
And Austin Booker is the key reason why.
Booker missed the first seven games of the season, landing on injured reserve coming out of training camp and taking another three weeks after his return to practice to ramp back up into playing condition. In his 2025 debut on Sunday, though, Booker shone against the Bengals, using a one-armed bull rush to record a critical strip-sack against quarterback Joe Flacco and adding two total tackles and one quarterback hit to boot.
According to Pro Football Focus, Booker finished as the Bears’ highest-graded overall defender (90.0) in the win over the Bengals with a high-end 85.8 pass-rush grade.
The Bears will still likely seek out more defensive end help in the wake of Odeyingbo’s injury, but they may not feel they need a heavy-hitter to replace the injured veteran if Booker — whom they drafted in 2024 with high expectations — can remain dominant.
Bears Lose $48 Million Starter to Injury, Sparking Trade Rumors