The Bears should take a chance on Chase Young |
Eric Washington may be out as the defensive coordinator in Chicago, but regardless of whoever takes his spot, the Bears will need more talented pass rushers to help edge rusher Montez Sweat and the defensive line unit.
Remember defensive end Chase Young? The former second-overall pick back in 2020 had a fantastic rookie campaign with 7.5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, and four forced fumbles. He won Defensive Rookie of the Year for his performance and garnered his only Pro Bowl season. Since then, Young has played for three different teams and is set to become a free agent in March. Young’s career started going downhill in 2021 and 2022. In those two years, he only started in 11 games and missed a lot of time due to injury. However, he played 16 games in 2023 and all 17 in 2024 with the New Orleans Saints. In his last 23 games, Young has 13 sacks, 15 tackles for loss, and 36 quarterback hits. He has played 1,477 snaps in those games, showing he is able to be a consistent starter if necessary. It is no secret the Bears could use someone with Young’s level of production. His 5.5 sacks this year with the Saints was more than any player with Chicago last season except Sweat who had 5.5 sacks. In addition, Sweat and Young were teammates with the Washington Commanders from 2020 to mid-2023, when both were traded. In 2020, Young’s rookie year, Sweat recorded nine sacks and 12 tackles for loss which is far better than last year with the Bears. Getting these two back together on the defensive line could prove electric for Chicago’s pass rush. In addition, it is a relatively inexpensive move. His one-year deal with New Orleans for the 2024 season was worth $13 million, a massive jump above what he had made in the previous three seasons. In fact, between 2021 and 2023, Young made a total of $11,256,434 per Spotrac. Thus, it would seem reasonable that Chicago could sign Young to a deal worth an average of $10 million per year, perhaps even a little less. Thus, there are multiple upsides for Young. First, there was performance in his rookie year, as well as his 7.5 sacks in 2023 and 5.5 sacks (tied for second on the Saints) in 2024 on a team that lacked success on defense. Second, he already has chemistry with Sweat from playing together for multiple years with Washington. Third, he is relatively inexpensive for a player with his upside. The fact that he is relatively inexpensive is essential for the Bears. While they have a lot of cap space with almost $70 million, Chicago has always been strategic about how they spend their money. Some of that money has to be saved for their draft picks. Currently, the Bears have eight draft picks. According to Over the Cap, they are not projected to earn any compensatory picks. If Chicago’s assistant general manager Ian Cunningham took a job as a general manager with another team, then the Bears would land a third-round selection in each of the next two drafts. Thus, they need to plan for potentially having nine picks this season as there are still general manager openings. In other words, the Bears cannot spend a good portion of that $70 million and need to sign players who are cap-friendly. Young is one player who fits that model. Given his history of bouncing around to multiple teams, he is also someone who may be willing to sign a one-year deal so Chicago can test him out in 2025 before talking about a long-term contract.
