3 former Bears who won’t live up to their new contracts

3. Yannick Ngakoue, EDGE

New contract: TBD

We're kind of getting ahead of ourselves on this one, only because Ngakoue, you know, doesn't have a new contract yet. The pass-rushing free agent market has been slow to develop so far, and there are still a bunch of big name guys at that position available. With guys like Jadeveon Clowney, Calais Campbell, and Bud Dupree, it's hard to see a world where Ngakoue finds a home anytime soon. It also doesn't help that his stats have fallen off a cliff since 2020 – the sacks have still been there, but his overall defensive grade has plummeted each of the last four season, and his already-bad run defense is getting worse. Especially with him coming off a broken ankle that shortened his only season in Chicago, it's hard to see the defensive end finding that Pro Bowl form he had early in his career with the Jaguars. Maybe whatever short-term, low-money deal he ends up signing makes it easy for him to live up to expectations, but right now it seems like Ngakoue's best days are behind him.