The Chicago Bears have shown minimal interest in adding a pass-rusher to the fold this offseason, but an opportunity to buy low on a player with some upside might be the formula to change the franchise’s collective mind.
Moe Moton of Bleacher Report on Tuesday, July 14 suggested a deal in which the Bears flip a late draft pick in 2027 to the Kansas City Chiefs in return for former first-round selection Felix Anudike-Uzomah.
“Last August, Kansas City placed Anudike-Uzomah on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, which sidelined him for the entire 2025 season. He’s made minimal impact with the Chiefs, recording 41 tackles (eight for loss), three sacks and 19 pressures,” Moton wrote. “Yet Anudike-Uzomah showed brief promise during the 2024 campaign, playing 31 percent of the defensive snaps. Perhaps a restart with a new team that needs a pass-rusher would give him more opportunities to showcase his potential.”
Bears Made Trade for Former 1st-Round Pass-Rusher at Last Year’s Deadline
GettyKansas City Chiefs pass-rusher Felix Anudike-Uzomah.
The former Kansas State prospect is just 24 years old and has one season remaining on his $12 million rookie contract.
Kansas City has already declined the fifth-year option on Anudike-Uzomah’s deal and drafted R Mason Thomas in Round 2 back in April. Circumstances indicate the Chiefs will likely move in a different direction at the position come next offseason, so getting an asset of any kind in return for Anudike-Uzomah makes some sense, as now is their last best chance to do so.
Chicago made a similar move at the NFL’s mid-season trade deadline in 2025, shipping a sixth-round pick to the Cleveland Browns in return for a seventh-rounder and pass-rusher Joe Tyron-Shoyinka.
That trade didn’t work out, as Tyron-Shoyinka played just 111 defensive snaps, as well as 34 snaps on special teams, across eight appearances for the Bears. He has since retired from professional football.
Still, the former first-round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was a low-cost, potentially high-reward player. He battled fewer injury problems over his five-year career than Anudike-Uzomah has during his three years in the league and had a considerably larger sample size of games played because of it.
Thus, Anudike-Uzomah makes more sense as fringe, one-year bet in Chicago given his potentially higher upside than the move the team actually made for Tyron-Shoyinka last season.
Bears Betting on Austin Booker, Dayo Odeyingbo at Defensive End
GettyDefensive end Dayo Odeyingbo of the Chicago Bears.
What might stand in the way of a such a deal between Chicago and Kansas City before the regular season is the Bears’ apparent willingness, or perhaps even desire, to see how Austin Booker develops in Year 3 and how successful a healthy Dayo Odeyingbo can be after a season cut short by an Achilles tear during the middle of 2025 before making a trade or free-agent signing.
Chicago coughed up $48 million for Odeyingbo, and his contract appears neither cuttable nor tradable until 2026 is complete — or potentially until he shows out over the first half of the year, in which case the Bears would be unlikely to deal him at the deadline anyway.
Kansas City is also relatively thin off the edge, though in better shape than the Bears with the aforementioned Thomas now in the building alongside George Karlaftis. Defensive tackle Chris Jones is also a strong pass-rushing presence up the middle, which alleviates some of the Chiefs’ need for pocket disruption from the outside.
Still, Kansas City might think twice before dealing a former first-round pick who carries a salary cap hit under $3.8 million in 2026 given the defense’s obvious need at the position.
Bears Trade Pitch Flips Draft Pick for $12 Million Upside Pass-Rusher