Chicago Bears: Grading Monday’s free agent signings
2. Tremaine Edmunds
Tremaine Edmunds is going to help the Chicago Bears’ defense take a big step.
Tremaine Edmunds came after the TJ Edwards signing which was really cool for Bears fans. In a short time span, they fixed their linebacker room which had a huge void following the departure of Roquan Smith.
Now, they have both Edwards and Edmunds plus the assets they received from the Baltimore Ravens for Smith. This was a masterclass by Ryan Poles and his staff as the linebacker room is set for 2023 and beyond.
Edmunds and his 72 million dollar deal over four years is the largest four-year contract an NFL inside linebacker has ever gotten. He will make the Bears a much better team so it is obviously well-earned and well-spent money by both sides.
The Bears have always had good linebackers and now they are trending in that direction again. Edmunds has been in the league for five years and is only entering his age-25 season which is remarkable.
The fact that there is still room for him to grow should be scary for the rest of the NFC North. He played for a very good Buffalo Bills team over the last few seasons and even made a couple of Pro Bowls. The former first-round pick (16th overall) has lived up to the hype.