The Chicago Bears have made a concerted effort through the first two weeks of free agency to bolster their interior defensive line. The Bears signed Neville Gallimore and Kentavius Street to two-year and one-year deals, respectively, last week. Then on Wednesday, the Bears reportedly signed James Lynch to a one-year pact.
None of these moves are needle movers, but they give Chicago depth in the middle. However, they still need to find a solid secondary pass rush option opposite of Montez Sweat. As of right now, Austin Booker would be the starter, which isn’t terrible, as he had 12 QB hits, five tackles for loss, and 4.5 sacks in the final 10 games of the regular season.
But the Bears can’t just put all their eggs in Booker’s basket this upcoming season. They need to sign an established pass rusher, such as Joey Bosa, who is a free agent but is worth taking a gamble on. Bosa has dealt with injuries over the last four years of his career, playing in 14 total games between 2022 and 2023.
However, over the last two seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers and Buffalo Bills, Bosa has stayed healthy.
Bears Should Take Risk to Sign Joey Bosa to Bolster Pass Rush Unit
Bosa spent the 2025 season with the Bills, with whom he signed a one-year, $12.6 million deal and played 562 defensive snaps. The last time the veteran defender played 500 or more snaps was in 2021 (848). During that season, Bosa had 43 quarterback pressures, 20 QB hits, 10.5 sacks, seven forced fumbles, and five tackles for loss.
The veteran defensive end didn’t reach those marks last season in Buffalo, but his stats would make him one of the best pass rushers on the Bears. He had 24 quarterback pressures, 16 QB hits, nine tackles for loss, five sacks, and five forced fumbles.
Looking at the Bears’ individual defensive stats from last season, Bosa would rank third in sacks behind Sweat (10) and Gervon Dexter (6). As a team, the Bears recorded 35 sacks, which ranked 28th in the NFL.
For this Bears’ unit to take that next step in 2026, they need another bona fide pass rusher, and Bosa could be that missing piece.Â
Spotrac projects Bosa’s calculated market value as a two-year, $27.5 million contract ($13.7M AAV), which is quite expensive for a defender who had a solid season, but also has past injury concerns.
The Bears currently don’t have the cap space to dish out that type of money ($493,528, per Over The Cap). Therefore, they would have to make a couple of moves even to consider a pass rusher addition, whether that be Bosa or Jadeveon Clowney, who would be another intriguing fit for the Bears’ defense.
Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see what the Bears ultimately do at pass rusher over the next several weeks. The fact that they made a concerted effort to sign multiple DTs could signal that they could take someone in next month’s draft.
However, to expect a rookie to make the same impact as Bosa or Clowney is a bold idea, and one that the Bears should caution against before trying to add a quality veteran.