The Chicago Bears fielded among the worst pass-rush defenses in the NFL in 2025 and are doubling-down again this year on the same players who couldn't stay healthy enough or perform well enough to make a real difference in that area last season.
Answers remain in free agency, but they are growing fewer and further between with each passing day. Jadeveon Clowney is now a member of the Houston Texans. Joey Bosa isn't sure he wants to play an 11th professional campaign. And the list goes on.
Meanwhile, Montez Sweat is running out on the Bears' practice field every day forced to wonder if Austin Booker can continue the mini-leap he made at the end of last season, just his second in the NFL, or if Dayo Odeyingbo can get healthy enough after an Achilles tear to make an impact and earn the massive contract he inked a little more than a year ago.
Even if Chicago had added Clowney, or if the team does add Bosa or some other veteran edge-rusher like Kyle Van Noy or Leonard Floyd, those are just one-year solutions. One player who wouldn't be, however, is five-time Pro Bowler Maxx Crosby of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Bears could grab Raiders' attention with blockbuster offer for Maxx Crosby
It has been nearly five months since the Raiders dealt Crosby to the Ravens for two first-round picks, before Baltimore quickly rescinded that offer due to concerns over the defensive end's physical examination -- namely his surgically-repaired right knee.
However, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported in the fallout of that broken agreement that Las Vegas might consider trading Crosby again later down the line, perhaps before the regular season or the mid-season trade deadline on November 10, assuming the right offer came through.
Danny Heifetz of The Ringer Fantasy Football Show on July 30 suggested that the time to revisit a Crosby trade has arrived, and he named the Bears as a prime candidate to jump into the mix.
“You know who I kinda think might get traded? Maxx Crosby,” Heifetz said. “They literally traded Maxx Crosby for two firsts, it was undone within 48 hours. Before Myles Garrett, it was the biggest trade of the entire offseason.”
“I feel like he’s gonna get dealt. And I kinda thought the Rams were gonna be the team, and then they got Myles Garrett,” he continued. “I think Chicago should go get Maxx Crosby.”
Of course, acquiring a superstar player is easier said than done. It is also more complicated with a player like Crosby who has shown signs of mild physical decline over the past two years, both in terms of games played and overall on-field production.
But Crosby turns just 29 years old later this month and still put up 28 tackles for loss, which was second in the NFL behind only Garrett, along with 10 sacks across 15 appearances in 2025. Chicago didn't want to spend two first-round picks to acquire Crosby, which is why they didn't back in March.
However, if he can be had for a first-rounder in 2027 along with a late Day 2 or early Day 3 asset, it's a proposition worth strong consideration from a team potentially on the cusp of a second consecutive deep playoff run.
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