The Chicago Bears' 2025 season on defense was a mixed bag of a lot of yards allowed, a lack of a pass rusher, and a ton of turnovers created, but there was one veteran who seemed to have played well all year for them.
Bears edge rusher Montez Sweat needed a big season with the franchise after being kind of disappointed after two years of lackluster sack numbers. Sweat came back in a big way with 10 sacks to lead the Bears in 2025, as the team just had 33 on the year. Bears head coach Ben Johnson praised Sweat for his 2025 performance, calling it a career season for the pass rusher.
"I loved him during the season — but when you watch the self-scout after the year, I think this was a guy who played at a very high level," Johnson said via The Athletic's Dan Wiederer. "I talked to him yesterday about, hey, I would argue it was the best year of his career."
"Whether that showed up statistically or not, that's debatable. But his ability to play the run, play the pass, I thought he did a really nice job. Hopefully it's something we can piggyback on."
Ben Johnson with some praise for DE Montez Sweat ...
— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) June 10, 2026
"I loved him during the season — but when you watch the self-scout after the year, I think this was a guy who played at a very high level. I talked to him yesterday about, hey, I would argue it was the best year of his career.…
Ben Johnson thinks Montez Sweat had the best season of his career
Some would argue that Sweat's 2022 season with the Washington Commanders was his best since he had a career-high 25 quarterback hits, while others would say 2023 with the Commanders and Bears was his best after a career-high 12.5 sacks between the two teams and becoming the first player to ever lead two teams in sacks in one season. 2025 was easily the best Sweat has had since joining the team, as he put together a full year of productive work.
Last year, he had 54 quarterback pressures, 37 hurries, and four batted passes to add to the sack number. Pro Football Focus graded him out at a 71.2, ranking 42nd out of 115 eligible edge rushers.
Sweat will have more pressure on him going into 2026 to put up bigger numbers since the Bears oddly decided not to add edge rushers anymore to a room that is struggling mightily. Austin Booker and Dayo Odeyingbo will have more heat on them to step up, but Sweat is being looked at to stay consistent and continue to add to the sack number.
Read more: Bears' Colston Loveland's "pick your poison" comment should frighten defenses
The Bears are very lucky to have Sweat on their team, as if they didn't, they would be in a ton of trouble with their pass rush. At least the man they paid nearly $100 million for is starting to live up to the investment Chicago put in him.
Add us as a preferred source on Google