The Bears entered the 2026 draft with a serious pass rushing need, and our mock draft predicted Chicago would address that need in the primary round. Nevertheless, the team didn’t use any of their seven picks on a pass rusher, in order Albert Breer of SI.com writes, it could not be surprising to see the Bears fortify their Montez Sweat-fronted EDGE contingent with a veteran sooner or later within the near future.
There are still quite a lot of recognizable names in the marketplace, including players like Jadeveon Clowney, Cameron Jordan, Joey Bosa, Von Miller, and Haason Reddick. We recently heard Clowney is drawing interest, though it’s presently unclear which teams are considering him. As Breer observes, Clowney suits the mold of the long, rugged pass rusher that Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen favors, and Jordan and Allen spent quite a lot of years along with the Saints. Either of those players might be a fit for Chicago, even when (as Breer suggests) such a deal won’t come together until we catch up with to training camp.
Meanwhile, the team will proceed to judge Dayo Odeyingbo, whose first season with the Bears was cut short by a torn Achilles. Through eight games in 2025, the previous Colt recorded only one sack, and 2024 fifth-rounder Austin Booker – one other key piece of Chicago’s pass rushing plans last season – missed time attributable to injury as well. Booker ultimately posted 4.5 sacks in 10 games, and the Bears tallied the fifth-fewest sacks within the league.
That led to the speculation that GM Ryan Poles would add a real pass rushing talent this offseason, but that has not happened yet (although Poles did a minimum of explore the likelihood of acquiring Maxx Crosby from the Raiders). Despite winning the NFC North and narrowly missing a visit to the NFC championship game in 2025, the Bears finished within the bottom-10 by way of each total defense and scoring defense, so a longtime EDGE player or two would surely help spur one other deep postseason run.
Poles did authorize eight-figure contracts for safety Coby Bryant and defensive tackle Neville Gallimore in free agency, and he further fortified those positions within the draft with S Dillon Thieneman (No. 25 overall) and DT Jordan van den Berg (No. 213). In keeping with ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Bears consider they got a steal in each players, as they didn’t expect Thieneman to fall to them and think van den Berg was one of the vital talented DTs in his class (his sixth-round status notwithstanding).
Fowler says Chicago was also eager about cornerback Colton Hood, whom the Giants chosen with the No. 37 selection. If Thieneman was unavailable, because the Bears thought he could be, Hood could have been the choice at No. 25.