Miami's Emmanuel Ogbah could be a trade fit for Bears |
If the Bears intend to improve their pass rush before the season starts, Ryan Poles and company have to make a decision soon on what to do. They have the money to sign free-agent help, but it seems Poles want to hang on to it to potentially make an in-season deal.
You also have the trade market, but all the names being discussed with the Bears will require a king's ransom and something Poles may not want to do. Either way, he has a tough decision to make as that continues to be the most significant area of concern on this team heading into the regular season. With teams now in the second week of the OTA portion of the offseason, you start to look at training camp, which begins in just over a month. Most teams like to enter camp with all their positions addressed one way or another, but the Bears still need to address the pass rush side of things. The NFC North is a winnable division this season, and if the Bears can improve the one area they need to improve, they have as good of a chance to win the division as anyone. Getting back to the trade market and there could be a name to keep an eye on, but this player is more of a potential-based player as opposed to skill. While most people are screaming for the Bears to go with an experienced pass rusher, trading for Miami's Emmanuel Ogbah could yield a low-risk, high-reward solution for Chicago’s defense as they continue to build for 2023 and beyond. Ogbah may not be a familiar name for the casual football fan, but he is still only 29 years old and has three years left on his contract. Chicago could trade for him and give up a third or fourth-round pick in 2024, which makes the deal look more appealing. With the Dolphins trading for Bradley Chupp last season, having Jaelen Phillips, and playing a 3-4 system, Ogbah is the odd man out as he is better suited for a 4-3 system like the one Matt Eberflus uses. At 6-4 and 278 pounds, Ogbah is a decent-sized EDGE rusher but does check many of the boxes the Bears are looking for in terms of talent. His overall size and quickness can be a problem for offensive linemen, and he has been a matchup nightmare that creates many problems. Looking back at his past few seasons, Ogbah racked up nine sacks and more than 60 pressures during the 2020-21 seasons. The sack numbers may not be elite, but his overall QB pressure numbers are an encouraging sign, as he always seems to be around the QB in the backfield. However, 2022 was a down season for Ogbah, which was his first without Brian Flores, and that is one of the reasons why he is being overlooked on the Dolphins roster right now. He finished with career lows in snaps (328), tackles (11), and sacks (one) over nine games and did not get the chance to play with Chubb as he suffered a season-ending injury in week 10. Had he been on the field with Chubb, who knows what kind of numbers he would have put up? He is the odd man out right now. With a potential contract hit of roughly 17 million in each of the following three seasons, the Dolphins may be inclined to move him in favor of Phillips and Chubb, which would have him looking for a new opportunity. The Bears make a ton of sense for that opportunity, as he would be coming into a scheme better suited for him and would be given a chance to start and play instantly.
