Almost three months after they failed to sign a big name and six weeks after they didn’t draft one, the Bears are still shopping for an edge rusher.
“We’re interested in a lot of free agents,” head coach Matt Eberflus said Wednesday.
They should be: since 2010, only six teams recorded fewer sacks in a season than the 20 the Bears logged last year. Barely half — 10 ½ — came from defensive linemen.
The Bears’ best pass rusher in 2023 might not be on the team yet. They have options, even if they’re in the discount aisle. Of the 12 unsigned players left on Pro Football Focus’ list of the 100 best available free agents entering the offseason, half are edge rushers: former No. 1 overall pick Jadeveon Clowney (32), Yannick Ngakoue (62), former Bears first-round pick Leonard Floyd (64), Melvin Ingram (71), Justin Houston (72) and Frank Clark (74).
There’s a reason they’re available, though. They’re old in football years — four of the six are in their 30s, and Clark will join their ranks two weeks from now. They all have flaws, too, with perhaps the most salacious that Clowney was benched in Week 18 for complaining about his role with the Browns.
The Bears are willing to give at least one of them a one-year deal. When they didn’t in March or April, the belief was the veterans were waiting until after the draft to see which teams still had holes remaining. Now teams are in position to wait for players to lower their own asking price. It wouldn’t be surprising to see them sign as late as the eve of training camp.
While Bears coaches preach the value of attending OTAs and the mid-June mandatory minicamp, the clock isn’t necessarily ticking. Houston played under Eberflus on the Colts in 2019 and 2020, totaling 19 sacks and appearing in every game. Ngakoue played for current Bears defensive line coach Travis Smith with the Raiders in 2021, posting 10 sacks.
General manager Ryan Poles knows Clark, a Chiefs staple the last four years, and Ingram, who spent part of 2021 in Kansas City.
Smith said he hasn’t given any thought to whom the Bears could add.
“I’m focused on the guys we have here,” he said. “That’s not my job to go look outside. That’s for Mr. Poles and [Eberflus] to decide. If they come ask me a question, I’ll offer my opinion on it. But the guys that we have, the 15 guys in the room that we have, coaching every day to get better.”
Those 15 getting better doesn’t preclude an addition, though. Even if Trevis Gipson matches his breakout 2021 season — he’s playing both left and right end in camp — and Dominique Robinson doubles his rookie production from last year, the Bears would only be looking at 10 more sacks. Free agent addition DeMarcus Walker had seven sacks last year, but figures to move inside on the Bears’ “green” rush team in passing situations. That would leave an edge spot open — and maybe two.
“We’re interested in a lot of guys at all positions right now,” Eberflus said. “We’re just excited about being able to look at those guys and potentially add as we go through camp and getting closer to the season.”
The Bears blitzed more than they would have liked last year. They hope to do so less often.
“You’d like to generate [the pass rush] from the front four,” Eberflus said. “That way you can have all seven in coverage and you can do more variation with your coverage that way, and not opening holes for the offense.”
