Montez Sweat’s suspension kicked the door open for the Bears to make a trade and one overlooked detail makes it even more likely
Following the suspension of defensive end Montez Sweat, the Chicago Bears should be even more motivated to trade for another pass rusher, and the math just got a lot easier to stomach such a move.
The Chicago Bears got hit with unfortunate news on Tuesday when the NFL announced that defensive end Montez Sweat would be suspended two games for violating the league’s Performance-Enhancing Substances Policy.
It’s a massive shot to the team’s defense and leaves a significant void off the edge, even if Sweat’s impact has been largely invisible. Say what you want about his stats this season, any time you lose a player that’s played 69 percent of the defensive snaps, it’s a big loss.
Sweat certainly could have been producing more over the first five games, but he’s still second on the team in pressures (13) and has 2.0 sacks. Not having him changes a lot for Dennis Allen’s unit, especially on early downs.
The worst part is that the depth off the edge has been an issue for the Bears. It could get even worse if Dayo Odeyingbo isn’t able to play on Sunday after leaving last week’s game with a quad injury. If that’s the case, that’ll leave the Bears with Austin Booker, Shemar Turner, Daniel Hardy, James Lynch, and Jamree Kromah to work with off the edge.
This entire situation will expose how badly the Bears need to trade for another edge rusher
Sweat’s absence over the next two weeks will be eye-opening for this defense and expose how badly another edge rusher is needed that can be an impact player. For weeks now, I’ve been banging on the table for the Bears to make a trade, ideally to bring back Khalil Mack. After this news, that belief has gotten even higher.
The timing of this couldn’t have worked out any better for Chicago. This weekend, the Los Angeles Chargers face the Kansas City Chiefs and could easily fall to 0-6 with a bye week coming up in Week 7. That’s the optimal time to ship Mack to a contender and it’ll line up with the Bears realizing what they’re missing.
This is a deal that makes too much sense and one the Bears have to make. The cost won’t be high either with the expectation that Mack is only worth a fifth-round pick. Here’s the trade I keep coming back to using the new A to Z Sports Trade Simulator:
One hidden detail makes this trade even more manageable for the Bears
The key benefit of Sweat’s suspension is that he will be suspended without pay over the next two weeks. That means the team saves $2.3 million of his 2026 base salary, which will then get added back to the team’s 2026 cap space.
As you can see from the trade graphic above, if the Bears do trade for Mack, the team would have to absorb $5.8 million of his remaining contract. That would have left the team with $1.6 million remaining in cap space, but that was before the Sweat news.
Once Sweat’s game checks get added back to the cap space, the Bears would have $3.9 million remaining, even after acquiring Mack.
From a long-term perspective, it’s also worth noting that the suspension voided all future guarantees on Sweat’s deal. That doesn’t change much, unless Sweat is cut mid-season, but I don’t that rash of a decision happening. Even before this news, Sweat had no more guaranteed money remaining after this season, meaning the Bears can move on in 2027 and save $21 million. Needless to say, his future in Chicago is hanging in the balance and this suspension doesn’t help things.
From a short-term perspective, the Bears should make this move to acquire Mack and add him to this pass rush for the rest of the season, and have Sweat back in Week 8, to push for a Super Bowl. After that, let both players walk and use those savings to add younger, more impactful, pieces for the future. That’s where I stand on this entire situation and it makes too much sense for the Bears to not go this direction.
