Overpaid Bear Robbed the Team Blind With 2024 Performance

Ryan Poles has gotten a lot of heat this past year on some of his decisions in rebuilding the Bears. We all know about the Carolina trade and all the players the Bears were able to add, but he also made some real blunders such as drafting Velus Jones Jr. in the 3rd round, trading a 2nd round pick for Chase Claypool, and completely neglecting the offensive line outside of Darnell Wright.

He also traded a 2nd round pick for Montez Sweat and then signed him to a 4-year extension worth $98M and $41.96M guaranteed. Per Over the Cap, that makes him the 6th-highest paid edge defender in the league. At the time, this was viewed as a great move due to Sweat's production and what he brought to the table after the trade. A year later, however, this move does not look as great as it once did.

Bears Defensive End Montez Sweat's Contract Not Looking Great

Sweat ranked 55th out of 121 qualified edge defenders per Pro Football Focus. His 5.5 sacks were tied for 60th in the league and the second-least amount of his career after a 2021 year in which he only played in 10 games and had 5. He had 32 pressures only, tied for 31st in the league, and 37 hurries, tied for 18th. Simply put, he was a middle-of-the-pack edge defender this season on a top-paid contract.

Sweat battled some injuries throughout the year and the talent around him on the defensive line was not elite, but these numbers are simply not good enough for a guy being paid in the top-10 at his position. The Bears have another top-10 pick this year as well as 3 more in the top-75. The trenches, both offensively and defensively, should be a point of emphasis for the team going into free agency and the draft.

Hopefully the Bears are able to add another threat on the opposite side of Sweat to alleviate some of the double teams and chips he saw this year, but the fact of the matter is he needs to play better to live up to the hefty contract he was given.

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