The NFL Combine begins with the Bears' to-do list and shopping list set | Telander

The Bears could use several key players for next season at positions they’ll try to fill through the draft or trades or free agency or walk-in-the-door luck. 

But a terrifying edge rusher is the mightiest Bears need of all.

That's at the top of their grocery list as the 2026 NFL Combine begins. Don't forget about their to-do list, either.

Since everything in the NFL these days is about the quarterback, the main point of defenses is to make the quarterback miserable. How best to do that? Simple: Have a monster on the edge of the defensive line who comes after the quarterback like an enraged bull.

The Bears have edge rusher Montez Sweat, who has averaged roughly nine sacks per 17 games in his seven-year career. That’s pretty darn good, but it’s not knock-you-dead great. Sweat had a very nice ten sacks for the Bears last season, but he had only 5 1/2 in 2024 and just six in his injury-shortened 2023 season. 

For comparison, we could use the Browns edge beast Myles Garrett who measures in at 6-4, 275 pounds He is to quarterback-terrifiers as Michael Myers is to Halloween trick-or-treaters. Garrett appears to be composed entirely of muscle, and last season he broke the all-time season record for sacks with 23. That he changed every opposing team’s offensive blocking scheme and quarterback alert system is a given.

Naturally, every team wants a Myles Garrett or a lesser version of him, such as the Raiders' Maxx Crosby or the Lions' Aidan Hutchinson or the Packers' Micah Parsons. And if the Bears’ Sweat, 29, could have one of those type of guys on the other end of the defensive line, he’d likely be even better than he is now, since blockers couldn’t single him out.

Simple problem. Simple solution. Not quite.

As Bears general manager Ryan Poles said recently, a huge question is this: "What does it cost?"

Before the Bears make any additions, their to-do list involves getting under the NFL salary cap. The Bears are more than nine million dollars over the cap, so snaring a high-priced veteran edge is unlikely. That is, unless certain Bears are released along with their salaries. An obvious candidate to jettison, if it has to be done, is linebacker Tremaine Edmunds.

The 6-5, 251-pound, seven-year veteran signed a four-year, $72-million contract with the Bears in 2023. He’s not guaranteed any money in 2026, but if he stays on the team he’ll get $17.4 million. Cutting him saves the Bears an immediate $15 million with the cap, the other $2.4 million being "dead money."

Even releasing Edmunds wouldn’t free up enough to get an elite edge. For giggles, consider Garrett re-signed with the Browns last March for $40 million a year for four years, with $123.5 million guaranteed. Crosby made $32.5 million last year. Four months ago the Lions’ Hutchinson signed a four-year, $180-million extension, with $141 million guaranteed. That’s $45 million a year. 

Let’s pause and collect ourselves. 

There are some lesser edge rushers who are free agents now, such as the Bengals’ Trey Hendrickson and the Chargers’ Odafe Oweh. But they won’t come cheap, either,

The point is, the Bears’ best bet is finding a future edge star in the 2026 draft.  With the NFL combine having just started and running until March 2, we’ll see what the Bears might sniff out there. Long arms, speed, strength, height, weight — those are key traits to examine. 

And as GM Poles will remind all: so is attitude.

"There’s more levels than just grabbing the talent and bringing it in," Poles said. There are "things that happen in the locker room’’ that matter too. And, Poles added, in case it needed to be said, "There’s the salary cap."

At any rate, the Bears don’t draft until No. 25, which means they don’t have to worry about getting a well-publicized top-ten superstar. Instead, they might be clever sleuths and find a gem who bounced down the draft order to them. Pundits have all kinds of guaranteed excellent picks already laid out for the Bears. Some say Missouri edge Zion Young. Some say Keldric Faulk from Auburn. Some say Clemson’s T.J. Parker.

Meanwhile, the Bears also need a safety and help on the offensive line. They have other needs, too. 

 But then, who doesn’t have needs in the NFL?  The league is set up that way.  The worse you are, the higher your draft pick. The salary cap means you can’t horde talent.  Players break down and disappear faster than race horses. New blood is always needed. 

It’s a grab bag to get better. We’ll see what the Bears can snatch.

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