The Montez Sweat acquisition and subsequent signing is looking like a shrewd move by Bears General Manager Ryan Poles. Sweat came to the Bears from Washington in a trade at the Oct. 31 deadline, costing Chicago a second-round pick. Poles signed him to a four-year, $98-million extension only four days later, and he has quickly established himself as a cornerstone player for on an improving defense. The 27-year-old edge rusher is consistently pressuring quarterbacks, who no longer are free to pick apart an inexperienced secondary. Sweat has 3 1/2 sacks in five games with the Bears, helping them begin to develop some swagger.
The Bears are 3-2 since the trade, raising their record to 5-8. They have only the faintest of hope to factor into the wild card race but it is a lot easier to see them as contenders in 2024, whether their quarterback is Justin Fields or Caleb William In trading for Sweat, Poles restored order to a defense that had been on its heels since the mid-season trades of Roquan Smith and Robert Quinn in 2022. The Bears were allowing 27.3 points per game but have cut that to 18.2 since adding Sweat.
They finished last in the NFL with 20 sacks in 2022 and had only 10 in their first eight games this season. But that has changed drastically. The Bears have 11 sacks in their last four games, including four on Jared Goff in a 28-13 win over Detroit last Sunday. They’ve had multiple sacks in each of the last four games. a broken ankle in that victory over the Lions. Ngakoue, signed to a one-year contract before the season, has four sacks. He leads Sweat and tackle Justin Jones by one-half sack
