The Bears’ roster is nearly ready heading into their preseason opener against the Texans on Thursday.
But there remains one glaring problem that general manager Ryan Poles and management could, and perhaps should, address before the season begins: the edge rusher position. The Bears haven’t really addressed that problem in Montez Sweat yet.
But NFL insider Albert Breer pitched the Bears an idea to address their needs on ESPN 1000.
“If I were the Bears, I’d pick up the phone and call Matthew Judon,” Breer said. “That’s the problem with Judon. With Judon and New England, they paid Christian Barmore, they paid a lot of other players that aren’t as good as Judon. He’s set to make $6.5 million this year. I don’t know how far they’re going to have to go to make him happy.”
“If I were the Bears, I would at least consider doing it. I think he could be a really good fit for Matt Eberflus’ defense. If I were the Bears, that’s probably the one I would pick.”
MORE: Ryan Poles explains why the Bears didn’t add pass rushers before training camp
Judon, 31, is currently in a dispute with the Patriots as he nears the end of the final year of his contract. Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported Wednesday that the Patriots offered him a new contract after Tuesday’s practice, but Judon denied the report.
“No they didn’t, but it makes me look like a bad boy again. Don’t believe the lies,” Judon wrote.
In response, Judon sat on the sidelines in street clothes during Patriots training camp, leaving the opportunity for a team, like the Bears, to swoop in with a trade offer to claim him.
Judon played in the NFL for eight seasons. He was selected to the Pro Bowl four times in the last five seasons. He was also selected in the top 10 for the 2022 NFL Defensive Player of the Year award.
Unfortunately, Judon’s 2023 season ended abruptly after he tore his biceps, leaving him benched for the remainder of the season after playing in just four games. He recorded four sacks and 13 tackles in those games.
But his 2022 and 2021 seasons were incredibly impressive, as he finished with 15.5 and 12.5 sacks, respectively. Before tearing his biceps in 2023, Judon had missed just three games in his career. He’s a fully healthy player with a solid recent track record of on-field production.
The Bears have had a subpar rushing unit the past two seasons. In 2023, they finished 31st in the NFL with 30 sacks, surpassing the league-worst Panthers by just three sacks. The previous season, in 2022, the Bears finished with a league-worst 20 sacks.
And while Sweat’s presence greatly improves their defensive line, another solid, veteran addition would prove helpful for Sweat and the Bears’ defense.
But for now, Poles says he’s comfortable with how the roster is built.
“Our job as a front office is to look at every option we can to improve our football team,” Poles said July 19 of the defensive line. “We feel really comfortable with the players we have on our roster right now, and I’m excited, we’re both excited, to see (defensive line coach Travis Smith) and (defensive coordinator Eric Washington) really get their hands on those guys and develop them as we go through training camp. But we’ll always have an eye on the list of players we could potentially bring in.”
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