Another veteran defender pegged as the Bears potential savior off the edge as other options start to fly off the shelves
The Chicago Bears continue to be linked to veteran pass rushers on the free agent market looking ahead to training camp and Joey Bosa just became the latest target of interest from the national media.
The never ending conversation surrounding the Chicago Bears and the team’s lack of interest in adding a veteran pass rusher continues to cycle throughout the national media with training camp on the horizon.
Rightfully so. The Bears still have yet to make an addition at the defensive end position and this is the time of year when veteran free agents start signing with new teams after missing out on the offseason program, something we’ve already seen the last few days with Cam Jordan re-signing in New Orleans and A.J. Epenesa signing in Philly.
Options are starting to fly off the shelves for the Bears, if they actually want to make an addition to begin with. And now we have another veteran name being linked to the Bears this week by two different national NFL writers.
Joey Bosa continues to be linked to the Chicago Bears ahead of training camp
The latest name to be connected to the Bears on the edge rusher market is Joey Bosa, one of the three top names still available (the other two being Von Miller and Jadeveon Clowney). Of the three, Bosa is being viewed as the best fit for Dennis Allen’s scheme.
“Bosa had a 12.2% pass rush win rate last season, 26th among qualifying edge rushers, to go along with five sacks for Buffalo,” ESPN’s Aaron Schatz wrote. “He has played most of his career with his hand on the ground, so he’s probably the best fit for Chicago’s 4-3 base out of the top three available veteran pass rushers.”
Bosa is coming off 5.0 sack season with the Buffalo Bills, in which he started 15 games during the regular season playing 562 snaps, his highest snap count since 2021. He showed he still has something left in the tank and in Chicago, the Bears wouldn’t be asking him to play nearly that much in a rotation with Austin Booker and Dayo Odeyingbo opposite Montez Sweat.
Is someone like Joey Bosa a necessary addition for Chicago?
During his appearance this week on 104.3 The Score, Mike Florio also floated Bosa as an option for Chicago saying he “makes the most sense” if he’s healthy while even adding that he would still be kicking around the possibility of a trade involving Maxx Crosby.
“Bosa’s had plenty of injuries, but when he’s healthy, he can be very effective,” Florio explained. “Von Miller wants to keep playing, that would be intriguing. But, how much does he have left in the tank? What can we project when December and January roll around? With a guy that’s been playing as long as these guys have – when they get through September, October, November – when we get to the crunch time, is this a guy that we’re going to be able to count on to make a big play in a big spot? That’s the decision the Bears have to make.”
The Bears will need to make a decision sooner than later the way these veterans are coming off the market the closer we get to training camp. The problem is, the Bears still want to evaluate what they currently have in the building and that can’t happen until players are back and pads are on in late July.
As we continue to say, don’t expect any kind of move on the defensive end front anytime soon until that full evaluation can happen. If a move is even made.