Tremaine Edmunds embracing Chicago Bears with latest comments

There was some confusion when the Chicago Bears jumped out of the gates at the start of NFL Free Agency this off-season with the signing of linebacker Tremaine Edmunds to a four-year deal worth $18 million per season.

Not confusion over the signing as Edmunds, with the Buffalo Bills, had been ascending toward being one of the best linebackers in the NFL but confusion over the Bears’ decision-making.

The Bears spent last summer at odds over the idea of paying inside linebacker Roquan Smith a lucrative contract extension, which ultimately led to the in-season trade with the Baltimore Ravens.

The decisiveness that Bears’ general manager Ryan Poles showed in trading Smith indicated how fractured the relationship may have been between the two sides. Smith did himself no favors by going over Poles’ head last summer when he issued his trade request and Poles likely showed some inexperience given it was his first contract dispute as a general manager.

Moving forward to this off-season and Poles found his guy at the linebacker position in Edmunds and it would seem that the former Bills’ linebacker is a perfect fit for what the Bears are building.

Chicago Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds is looking to build an identity with his new team.

Edmunds has wasted no time in establishing his presence with the Bears’ defense. Among the takeaways from the Bears’ mini-camp this Spring is that Edmunds has stepped in and immediately become a leader for the team. That is no small development for a Bears’ defense that lacked leadership after the trade of Smith and Robert Quinn at the NFL Trade Deadline last season.

Edmunds choosing to sign with the Bears because they are rebuilding also speaks to the culture that is being established with the team. The Bears are in a new era and among the items that need to be established are impact players wanting to be here.