The Chicago Bears once again have cap room and draft money, and NFL executives predict they will make significant moves with both.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler recently polled many front office personnel across the league, asking topics ranging from the landing sites of several big-name quarterbacks to projections about the teams’ immediate prospects. The most specific question for the Bears concerned former Washington Commanders defensive end and current San Francisco 49ers pass rusher Chase Young.
Washington sold its top defensive line bookends at the 2023 trade deadline, with Sweat then thriving as the Chicago Bears’ leading rusher and Young now vying for a Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers,” Fowler said on Wednesday, January 24. “In the months preceding up to the deadline, Chicago assessed both Young and Sweat in an effort to improve its pass rush. Sweat agreed to a four-year, $98 million agreement with the Bears, who might spend more money in free agency to pursue a pass-rusher like Young.
Chase Young Projected to Sign Affordable Contract After Bounce Back Year in 2023
Young and Sweat played together for three and a half years in Washington, which selected Young as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft. Young won Defensive Rookie of the Year honors and made a Pro Bowl that season.
However, injuries marred the defensive end’s next two seasons, during which he appeared in just 12 of 34 total regular-season games. Young’s production dipped significantly as a result, though he authored something of a bounce back campaign in 2023.
Young finished the year with 7.5 sacks, the same amount he tallied during his rookie season. He also upped his QB hits from 12 to 15 and finished the year with a career-high 25 pressures, per Pro Football Reference. He added 7 tackles for loss and 2 pass breakups across 16 games played — the most in any season during his four-year NFL tenure.
The Commanders signed Young to a four-year, $34.56 million rookie deal but chose not to exercise their fifth-year option on the defensive end for the 2024 campaign. As such, Young will hit free agency in March and will likely land with the team that offers him the most competitive contract.
Spotrac projects Young’s market value at just $13.6 million annually over a new two-year deal. If correct, that value indicates that some team will sign the 24-year-old edge defender to a short-term, prove-it contract allowing Young to hit the free agent market again in 2026. Chicago can afford that type of deal, and more, with a projected $49.1 million in available salary cap space as of Wednesday.
