LAKE FOREST, Ill. – A year after trading a second-round pick for wide receiver Chase Claypool, Bears general manager Ryan Poles got aggressive again Tuesday when he traded Chicago’s 2024 second-round pick to the Washington Commanders for edge rusher Montez Sweat distributed.
Sweat, 27, is in the final year of his contract and will be a free agent at the end of the season. The Poles attacked the fences again because, in his opinion, getting Sweat now is the Bears’ best chance to get their hitless pass rush under control. After evaluating the upcoming free agent class, which Sweat is a part of, and the draft class, the Poles paid the tax to bring Sweat to Chicago.
“In terms of our process, this is really a situation where you try to predict,” Poles said Wednesday at Halas Hall. “Look at the draft potential – our guys have done a really good job of getting information – and also free agency. “We felt like this was a really good opportunity to get a head start and get a top pass rusher in the building.” And that too is short-term, but also long-term. We are currently working on finalizing a contract.”
The Bears could have waited until free agency to try to sign Sweat without giving up the projected No. 35 overall pick in the 2024 draft. But the Poles see the value in getting Sweat in the building rather than waiting and hoping Sweat doesn’t get tagged and makes it to market, favoring the Bears over what is likely to be a robust market.
“I think it’s about capitalizing right now because you’re starting to miss opportunities,” Poles said of why he wanted to trade for Sweat now. “It’s really hard to see…. If you look at the free agent stack now, it’s going to look a lot different at this point in the year because there are so many different options that can come up in terms of extensions, tags and things like that. That’s why we decided we wanted to take advantage of it now with these types of players.”
Sweat wasn’t the only Commanders edge rusher traded on Tuesday, as Washington also sent Chase Young to the San Francisco 49ers for a third-round pick. There were rumors that the Bears were interested in Young, but apparently Sweat was the only edge rusher they wanted to acquire and they weren’t sure if he would be traded by the deadline.
“I’ll be honest: I really didn’t think Tez would be available for a while,” Poles said of choosing Sweat over potentially Young. “So the door was kind of closed, it was supposed to be pretty quiet and then in the last couple of hours it popped up again.”
It is now the second year in a row that the Poles have parted with a second-round pick in a trade deadline deal. The Bears general manager says he learned from the Claypool deal but doesn’t want to let that mistake stop him from pursuing a deal to bring Sweat to Chicago.
“It’s one of those things that I try to be very proud of. You look at the things you do. When they fail or you make mistakes, you look back at the reasons and address them,” Poles said. “I think the key is that sometimes you get a little timid to make aggressive moves as you move forward. That’s not how we’re wired. I took a lot of those things from that situation and kind of went through that process and said, ‘Okay, here’s where we may have screwed this up.’ Then it doesn’t make the same mistake in this case.”
Sweat arrived Wednesday and said he hasn’t thought about a long-term future in Chicago. The Mississippi State product said he wants “security” but will consider everything before deciding on a long-term home.
Poles said he has already started working on an extension.
“It’s hard to put a timetable on it, but I hope it won’t take too long,” Poles said. “I’m really confident we can reach an agreement.”
The Bears can use Sweat as a franchise or transit tag if they don’t secure a long-term extension by March.
But the Poles made the deal to make Sweat part of the foundation of that reconstruction. He paid a hefty tax for the exclusive right to deal with Sweat, believing it was the best way to ensure that the top edge rusher, whom the GM called “a multiplier,” was a bear.
The deal came together quickly as the Poles were convinced that the high price for a player of Sweat’s caliber was worth it. Someone he believes can help the Bears immediately and be a building block in their rebuild. But there is still a lot to do to make this second part a reality.
Click here to follow the Under Center Podcast.