The talk around the Chicago Bears heading into Week 2 against the Minnesota Vikings is about how great the offense looks and how the defense can get better immediately.
Chicago scored 59 points in a blowout win over the Carolina Panthers, but also let Bryce Young throw for close to 400 yards and hang a 37-spot of his own. Kay Adams of FanDuel’s “Up & Adams” show asked multiple-time Super Bowl champion defensive back Devin McCourty on Tuesday, September 15 what the Bears should do to improve upon their obvious weaknesses.
His answer was to trade for New York Giants pass-rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux.
“If you’re gonna score a lot of points then it comes down to your pass defense. And your pass defense is impacted by your pass-rushers or your cover guys. They’ve invested in their cover guys,” McCourty said. “You might wanna call down to the Giants: ‘Hey, I know you got Abdul Carter, you got Brian Burns. What you thinking about with Thibodeaux?'”
Kayvon Thibodeaux Likely More Available Than Defensive Back of Similar Talent
McCourty’s reading of the market for defensive players around the NFL this early in the season is that finding talent in the secondary might be harder than acquiring it off the edge.
And the Giants already have a dynamic pass-rushing duo in Carter and Burns and just drafted linebacker Arvell Reese No. 5 overall in Round 1 back in April. There are only so many snaps to go around in New York, and Thibodeaux could bring back a Day 2 asset in a deep 2027 class.
“Maybe that’s a call you make, you add a pass-rusher,” McCourty continued. “To me, it’s very hard to find good secondary play just off the street. And a lot of times teams, they’re not gonna just trade away defensive backs that they like. So I think the Giants, they might be in that area where you have a surplus [of edge defenders].”
Bears Need Game-Wrecking Pass-Rusher to Enhance Defense This Season
Chicago’s defense has several holes, and injuries have exacerbated the deficiencies that already existed heading into training camp.
The Bears don’t have the pool of players, the typical avenues, the draft picks or the salary cap space at their disposal to make wholesale improvements like they will next offseason. But the offense is clearly a juggernaut, and the best way to supplement it is to find a game-wrecker on the other side of the football.
Chicago doesn’t need to put a 2025 Houston Texans-level defense on the field to be successful this season. What the team could use desperately, though, is a player who can beat his man (or a double-team) straight up and record a sack or a tackle for loss on one or two key plays a game.
A drive-stopper who can force one more punt or one extra turnover per week might prove the difference for the Bears in multiple outings this season. Thibodeaux, a former first-rounder who put up 11.5 sacks in 2023 and has 23.5 career sacks, has the potential to be that player.
Obviously, someone like Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby is a superior solution. But Crosby is also potentially unavailable and will be more expensive than Thibodeaux even if he eventually ends up on the trade block — both in terms of trade cost and salary.
Bears Advised to Make Trade Offer for Giants’ 23.5-Sack Edge