Whatever it looks like, free agency, a trade, the draft (or all three), the Chicago Bears need to bolster their defensive front this offseason. That also means few, if any, stones should be left unturned in that pursuit, and a new name has landed on the list of potential options.
According to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, the Kansas City Chiefs are going to release defensive end Mike Danna. The team has confirmed the move, with a "thank you" message from Danna.
Danna's production has fallen off over the last couple of seasons, culminating in just one sack last season. He was well-regarded by everyone associated with the Chiefs, but with the arrival of rookie Ashton Gillotte this past season, an $11 million cap hit for 2026 became untenable as the Chiefs try to find money to make offseason maneuvers anywhere they can.
A Ryan Poles tie could put Mike Danna on the Bears' radar
Danna has spent his entire career with the Chiefs since being drafted by them out of the University of Michigan in 2020. He was a part-time player over his first three seasons, but in his fourth season opportunity. He started 16 regular season games and registered 6.5 sacks with 50 total tackles and seven tackles for loss as Kansas City finished that season with a win in Super Bowl LVIII.
That breakthrough campaign earned Danna a three-year, $24 million contract from the Chiefs in 2024. But he was unable to repeat that production, and last season he played less than 400 defensive snaps over 15 games.
Of course, arriving in Kansas City in 2020 meant Danna overlapped with Ryan Poles for two years, who worked in the Chiefs' front office for more than a decade before becoming the Bears' general manager. Poles was not in Kansas City's scouting department by that point, but he presumably knows something about Danna from the pre-draft process and from being in the same building for two seasons.
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Danna will not be in a position to command a lot on the open market. But he was productive the one time he had starter-level snaps over a full season, and his intangible fit, including two Super Bowl rings and a total of 16 playoff games on his resume, would provide a nice bit of extra value to a young, rising team like the Bears.