The Chicago Bears have been very busy this offseason, patching up numerous holes and adding big-time weapons on the offensive end.
However, one area in which the Bears are still lacking is the pass rush.
Chicago totaled just 30 sacks in 2023, which ranked 31st in the NFL. It should be noted that the Bears did acquire edge rusher Montez Sweat in a midseason trade with the Washington Commanders, so had Sweat been there all year, that number probably would have been a bit better.
Still, outside of Sweat, Chicago doesn’t really have much to offer in the pass rush, and it also has opted not to bring back fellow edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue.
While there is understandably a lot of excitement surrounding the new-look Bears heading into 2024, their front seven remains a bit of a concern, and it’s something Chicago may need to address if it truly wants to compete with the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers in the NFC North.
The bulk of free agency is obviously already over, but there are still some names out there who can help the Bears.
Gordon McGuinness of Pro Football Focus specifically named veteran defensive lineman Calais Campbell, who is easily one of the top remaining players on the open market.
Campbell spent the 2023 campaign with the Atlanta Falcons and managed to register 56 tackles and 6.5 sacks, a very productive season given the fact that he is 37 years old.
The University of Miami product has made six Pro Bowl appearances throughout his NFL career and also earned a First-Team All-Pro selection with the Jacksonville Jaguars back in 2017 after racking up 67 tackles 14.5 sacks and three forced fumbles. He also finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting that season.
Campbell is certainly not the same player he was back then, but he is still solid and can definitely bring some assistance to a Chicago defensive front that sorely needs it.
The Bears’ defense is decent as a whole, but the club has failed to address its lacking pass rush this offseason. Considering it had so many other problem areas it needed to fix, it’s no surprise that Chicago couldn’t properly repair the issue, but it definitely needs to acquire some help for Sweat going into 2024.
We’ll see if the Bears end up reaching out to Campbell at some point in the coming weeks or months.
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