The highlight of the Bears’ Saturday (so far) has been signing defensive end Montez Sweat to a contract extension. It isn’t officially official from the team just yet. But when NFL Media and ESPN have the details, an official announcement usually isn’t too far behind.
With that being said, I wanted to rattle off a collection of thoughts on the Sweat extension while they were rattling around in my head
Montez Sweat, the player
So … what are the Bears getting? I think Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz sums it up perfectly: “Montez Sweat has been a highly durable, highly productive player whom offenses consistently have to game plan for. He gets a ton of sacks and pressures, while also forcing 9 fumbles in his 5+ seasons. The Bears got a terrific football player.” Sweat has incredible football abilities. But his availability and durability are two abilities that stand out. After all, you can’t help your team on the field if you’re on the trainer’s table.
This brings me to what I like most about the deal: Montez Sweat is a good football player. A darn good football player. Unlike some other defensive ends, Sweat is a pass-rusher who isn’t a liability as a run defender. That isn’t a quality all defensive ends have. So, let’s not take it for granted. OK, so Sweat hasn’t had a 10+ sack season yet. It doesn’t mean he can’t. Plus, he still pressures the quarterback. Sweat still hurries the quarterback enough (11 QB Hits in 8 games this year, 28 in 17 games in 2022). Plus, he has at least 10 tackles-for-loss in three of his last four years. Sweat is a well-rounded DE who is a significant upgrade to what the Bears were trotting out earlier in the year.
Sweat has 6.5 sacks and 11 quarterback hits in 8 games this season. The Chicago Bears’ starting defensive ends DeMarcus Walker and Yannick Ngakoue have 9 QB Hits this season. In other words, Sweat is a welcome addition to the defensive line.
Bonus: I also like that Sweat is scheme flexible. You can throw him out on the edge as a pass-rushing outside linebacker. Or you can have him outside in a traditional defensive end stance with his hand in the dirt. That’ll come in handy if (when?) the Bears make a coaching change this offseason (or at any point in the future.
OK, but I have some concerns…
Confession: I’m wary that Sweat’s production in Washington was a product of playing next to three other first-round picks. This isn’t to say that the only reason he was productive was because of who was around him. Sweat is a good player. That much has been established. So I can’t see a scenario in which Sweat’s numbers were solely a product of the talent around him. Sure, I see how attention paid to others would’ve left Sweat available to clean up what was left behind. But you still have to win a ton of 1-on-1 battles to fully take advantage of attention going elsewhere. Sweat has done that. And now, he gets to be the top dawg in Chicago.
Maybe having Yannick Ngakoue on the other side will be beneficial for Sweat. Perhaps having Sweat on the other side will help Ngakoue (2 sacks in 8 games is the fewest he’s had at the midway point of a season in his career). Maybe this helps everybody on the line. Perhaps having good players helps make a team good. Don’t mind me. I’m trying to talk this out and sort it out at the same time.
Contract details
Contract breakdown and nuggets via PFF Brad and the folks at OverTheCap:
Folks are going to see the numbers and call it an overpay purely on the money side of things. But as it turns out, this appears to be in line with what the market value is for a player like Sweat. Still, those numbers look eye-popping. So I can’t blame anyone whose immediate reaction is ‘that is an overpay.’
There is an overpay aspect here, but I’ll get to that in the next bullet. But from a cash and cap perspective, it isn’t a deal that should handcuff the Bears. The Sweat extension will eat up 9.5% of the team’s cap next year, but will go down to 8.9% and 8.1% according to OTC’s calculations. Plus, there is an escape hatch if the Bears need to find it. Chicago could cut Sweat in 2025 and create $12.829 million in cap space (at the cost of a $12.255 million dead cap hit). This gives the Bears some much-needed wiggle room on that front.
If anything makes it an overpay, it is that the Bears sent a second-round pick to Washington for the exclusive rights to negotiate a big-money extension. Thankfully, the Bears were able to use that bit of leverage en route to getting a deal done. It still doesn’t make me feel any better about not having a second-round pick for the second consecutive year. But perhaps Sweat’s play will ease those concerns. After all, there is no crying over spilled milk.
Another nugget worth noting: There are a handful of defensive ends who look to be on the cusp of getting an extension. Once those deals get done, it’ll push Sweat’s deal down the ladder. And it could get to the point that the Sweat deal could look like a relative bargain. Especially if the salary cap continues to tick up as expected in the coming years.
Highlights
Ryan Poles and the Bears are spending money
I don’t really want to hear anyone ever say the Bears are cheap ever again. Look how much they’re spending!
Kudos to Bears GM Ryan Poles for successfully putting together a big-money extension. Montez Sweat’s four-year pact worth up to $98 million is the biggest contract Poles has given out as a general manager. If Poles sticks around long enough, then I imagine that number will be surpassed at some point in the future. And if that turns out being the biggest contract Poles hands out, then maybe he won’t be long for the job. We’ll see.
Since the calendar flipped to 2023, Poles has handed out $117.25 million in fully guaranteed money to Sweat ($41.965), Tremaine Edmunds ($41.8M), DeMarcus Walker ($10.5M), Yannick Ngakoue ($9.9M), T.J. Edwards ($7.9M), and Andrew Billings ($5.06M). That is some heavy investing throughout the Bears’ front seven. H/t OverTheCap for being such an easy-to-use and user-friendly site. Salute.
Cap notes: OTC has the Bears at $81,493,229 under the projected 2024 salary cap. Only the Bengals, Texans, Commanders, Patriots, and Titans are slated to have more. And I’m sure there are ways to create more space this coming offseason.
What about Jaylon Johnson?
So … what’s one more high-profile extension for the defensive side of the ball? After extending Sweat, the Bears’ next priority should be to do the same with cornerback Jaylon Johnson. The Bears could use the Franchise or Transition Tag to retain Johnson, but I’d hate for it to get to that point. Extending Sweat should prove to Johnson that the Bears are willing to play ball. Maybe now is not the time to go back to the negotiating table, but perhaps seeing this deal get done opens up lines for future dialogue.
Or, to put it another way, extending Montez Sweat should not preclude the Bears from extending Jaylon Johnson.
Although, perhaps Johnson won’t take it lightly that the Bears prioritized a Sweat extension:
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