The Chicago Bears are 1-2 on the year after picking up their first victory of the season last week over the Dallas Cowboys.
It was a much-needed win for the Bears after the flurry of moves they made this offseason. With each passing game, though, it looks more obvious that the Bears shouldn't have signed DT Grady Jarrett.
He was released by the Atlanta Falcons before signing with Chicago on a three-year, $43.5 million deal that featured $27.25 million guaranteed in March. The Bears thought they were getting a high-end interior defender, but it has been far from the case.
It Took Three Weeks to Realize Bears Shouldn’t Have Paid Grady Jarrett
Jarrett leads Chicago's defensive tackles in total snaps (124), playing in at least 58% of the snaps, but hasn't been that effective in those outings. In three games, he has four total tackles with zero TFLs and zero sacks. He only has three total pressures, and his run-defending ability hasn't been that stout.
According to PFF, Jarrett has a 55.7 overall grade (81st among 120 graded defensive linemen), 56.8 pass-rush grade (81st among 107 graded defensive linemen), and 57.6 run-defense grade (66th among 126 graded defensive linemen).
This comes after an underwhelming season with the Falcons in 2024. In 17 games in Atlanta, Jarrett had 53 total tackles, nine TFLs, and 2.5 sacks. In 2023, he tore his ACL, and it looks like he may not be able to get back to the form he was in prior to the injury.
While Jarrett brings leadership to the field, it's not worth the price tag that he got. The biggest downfall to this contract is that he's on the books for $19 million in 2026. If they released Jarrett, Chicago would get hit with a massive $21 million dead cap hit.
From what it looks like, he'll be on this team in 2025 and 2026, but the Bears were better off not signing him to that big a deal. They still have Gervon Dexter Sr. on the team and added Shemar Turner in the second round of the 2025 NFL draft.
While you can never have enough good interior linemen, they could have found a more productive player for a cheaper price tag. Instead, they have Jarrett for his age 32 and 33 seasons, but that already looks like a bad decision by the front office.