Montez Sweat Reveals He Wasn’t Happy About Bears Trade at First

The Chicago Bears made one of the biggest moves at the trade deadline last season, acquiring pass rusher Montez Sweat from the Washington Commanders. 

The Bears sent a second-round pick in exchange for the young pass rusher, which isn’t anything to sneeze at. However, Chicago felt like it needed a player of Sweat’s caliber on its defense and it paid off as he led the team with six sacks en route to being named to the Pro Bowl.

Chicago’s front office rewarded Sweat for his outstanding play, signing to a four-year, $98 million contract extension. For Sweat, the Bears seemed like a better option than what was happening in Washington. 

But the 27-year-old defensive end reportedly wasn’t happy when he found out that Washington traded him.

“I was shocked,” he said in an interview with Dan Pompei of The Athletic. “In disbelief.” Sweat said that then Commanders head coach Ron Rivera texted him asking to come to his office to discuss the trade.

The young pass rusher didn’t want to discuss the trade, instead, “he wanted to yell about it.”

"I was very emotional. I was angry and probably said some things I wanted to take back. Maybe."

- Montez Sweat

It was understandable for Sweat to be upset about the trade, given that Washington drafted him in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft and he spent five years with the club. 

While Chicago is a good landing spot for Sweat, the former first-round pick hoped he would be traded to Atlanta as he has a home and his family lives there. 

The Falcons were reportedly interested in acquiring Sweat at the trade deadline last season, but the Bears won the bidding war for the young pass rusher. Nonetheless, if you are a Bears fan, you hope that Sweat can build off last season’s production and have a fruitful next few seasons in the Windy City.

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