One reason the Chicago Bears traded for Montez Sweat over Chase Young
By Todd Welter
The Chicago Bears pulled off a major trade when they sent a second-round pick to the Washington Commanders for edge rusher Montez Sweat.
Sweat will help a Bears pass rush that has generated just 10 sacks.
Sweat has 6.5 sacks this season and 35.5 for his career in 67 games. The 27-year-old is set to be a free agent after the season.
Giving up what is currently projected to be the No. 37 pick according to Tankathon.com is a high price to pay for a player that you currently have to label a rental.
It leaves the Chicago Bears with just six draft picks for the 2024 draft although two of them are in the first round.
It is also a hefty price to pay for a player that general manager Ryan Poles could just go out next offseason and sign as the Bears have plenty of cap space.
Maybe Poles did not want to compete for Sweat’s services in a weak pass-rushing draft.
The 2024 draft class is good at EDGE but not great. And the chance of finding a player of Montez Sweat's caliber in Round 2 is slim to begin with.
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) October 31, 2023
The Bears had money to spend and the biggest team need on paper was edge-rusher. I really like that deal for them.
Chicago Tribune’s NFL beat writer Brad Biggs is speculating the Bears will try to work out a contract extension to make this trade make sense. Plus, they can always franchise tag him in the offseason.
One more thing on this morning's big news ... would not be surprising in the least if the #Bears were actively working on a contract extension for DE Montez Sweat.
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) October 31, 2023
Absent a new contract, of course, they would have franchise/transition tag available. https://t.co/42MXEo7L8C
Another problem with this trade is a rebuilding team chose a player who is 27 over his former teammate Chase Young, who is 24.
Young is rumored to be on the trade market and there was rumor floating around over the weekend that the Chicago Bears were going to acquire him.
It turns out there is a valid reason the Bears probably chose Sweat over Young.
Talking to needy teams about #Commanders’ Montez Sweat vs. Chase Young, it was clear Young has the ↗️ ceiling, but also carried a significant anxiety level about committing assets *and* a long term contract with his injuries. Sweat’s play + durability gave him more deal traction.
— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) October 31, 2023
Young won Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2020 after posting 7.5 sacks. Injuries limited him to just 12 games during his next two seasons.
He is healthy this year and has racked up five sacks so far. Durability is something Ryan Poles prioritizes, and Sweat has only missed seven games in his career.
Had the Poles traded for Young, he would have needed to sign him to an extension as Young is set to be a free agent after the season.
You cannot blame Poles for going with the durable Sweat.
Now he just needs to sign Sweat to an extension to avoid making a terrible trade before the deadline for the second consecutive year. At the very least, we need to hope that this is not the defensive version of the Chase Claypool trade.
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