The Chicago Bears' pass rush left much to be desired in 2025, which is why a potential Maxx Crosby trade has been on fans' radars this offseason. The star pass rusher's name landed in the rumor mill after Crosby and the Las Vegas Raiders reportedly disagreed on the decision to shut him down for the season with two games to go.
There are reports that Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak will be the Raiders' next head coach. He likely won't want to start his new stint with lingering drama, which is why the Raiders could be open to moving Crosby. And, if that's the case, the Bears should be calling Sin City.
Unfortunately, Chicago's financial situation makes a potential deal tough. Several bloated contracts are standing in the way of the Bears and their Crosby dreams, including Dayo Odeyingbo, who is scheduled to be a $20.5 million cap hit, according to OverTheCap.
Dayo Odeyingbo's Contract Is Hurting Bears' Maxx Crosby Dream
Cutting Odeyingbo is hardly an option based on the fact that it would only save a projected $3.5 million and leave no room to bring in the needed replacement. A trade would create up to $16 million in savings, but that'd be easier said than done after he missed part of last season with a torn Achilles and hasn't played well when he has managed to be on the field.
Chicago's cornerback concerns were so high that they traded a sixth-round pick for Joe Tryon-Shoyinka. This was a failure, with Tryon-Shoyinka unable to take pressure off Odeyingbo, failing to register a single sack. This only compounds the frustration that Chicago wasted cap space on an underperforming player, taking up cap space that could've been utilized to land Crosby to establish the Bears as a top Super Bowl contender.
The Bears have a stable full of draft picks in both 2027 and 2028, arming the team with the needed assets for a potential deal for Crosby. What is missing is the needed cap space, and there isn't a clear path to freeing this up due to past frustrating contract decisions. Another example of this would be one of the few mistakes of head coach Ben Johnson's first season, and that is veteran lineman Grady Jarrett.
Jarrett is similar to Odeyingbo in the fact that he is overpaid and underperforming. The interior lineman is scheduled to be a $18.9 million cap hit in the 2026 season, according to OverTheCap. Combining the cap hits of these two failing players brings us to $39.4 million for two pass rushers who struggle to consistently put pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
Acquiring Crosby would be a franchise-altering trade that would vault the Bears into next year's Super Bowl conversation. Instead, Chicago is reduced to hoping that Odeyingbo can find a way back to relevance and prove himself worthy of a cap hit that might be one of the biggest headaches in the league ahead of the rest of the offseason.