The Chicago Bears entered the offseason with some holes along the roster. They were able to fill in some voids, but not every weakness was addressed. Bolstering the pass rush was at the top of the list of needs, but general manager Ryan Poles didn't make any meaningful additions there.
ESPN's Seth Walder released an article discussing where he gave offseason grades. He gave Chicago a B+, but the move he disliked the most was the Bears not adding at edge.
"The Bears' defense generated a ton of turnovers last season, but those takeaways helped disguise the fact that it was one of the worst defenses in the league on non-turnover plays."
As Walder called out, they were able to create a bunch of turnovers in 2025, leading the NFL in takeaways (33), but with the slew of changes in the secondary, they could regret not making a big addition to the edge room.
The Bears' biggest remaining flaw could come back to haunt them
After letting Kevin Byard, Jaquan Brisker, and Nahshon Wright walk, they signed Coby Bryant and drafted safety Dillon Thieneman. While there are signs that Thieneman will be an impactful player as a rookie, and with a Super Bowl champion in Bryant on the backend, the lack of a consistent pass rush can come back to haunt them.
The Bears finished last season tied for 28th in the NFL in team sacks (35), but they were able to mask that flaw. But as Walder mentioned in Chicago's section, turnovers are fluky, and when the Bears couldn't create them, teams moved the ball.
A big reason for that is that they didn't have someone consistently wreaking havoc in the backfield. Being able to create pressure is how you disrupt the offense's timing. When you force a quarterback to move off his spot or get rid of the ball quicker, that is a win for the defense.
Montez Sweat led the way in Chicago with 10 sacks last season. Austin Booker finished with 4.5 sacks, which was second among Bears edge rushers. That isn't enough for a team that wants to make a deep run in the playoffs.
If Sweat were to miss time, the Bears' pass rush juice off the edge would take a massive hit. There were rumors that Chicago would add an edge rusher in the NFL draft or even trade for someone like Maxx Crosby. Yet neither happened, and the Bears still have a gap in the edge room.
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This will be a position group that fans watch closely again in 2026, but if they are underwhelming again, fans will be upset that Poles didn't address a clear need.
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