5 players the Chicago Bears cannot afford to lose in 2024 

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4. Montez Sweat is irreplaceable for the Chicago Bears

Montez Sweat is easily the most valuable player on the defense. You could argue that Jaylon Johnson has as big of an impact, but he is in a loaded secondary. When you talk about the Bears pass rush, it starts and ends with Sweat. 

When you think of who the next pass rusher is on the team you take a pause and think for a second. Sweat joined the Bears mid-way through the season and ended up leading the team in sacks through the entire year. The only real notable addition to the pass rush is Austin Booker, and Booker will play rotationally. 

He may rack up a few sacks, but Sweat is a player who can log heavy snap counts because he is great against the pass and the run. With that in mind, he could not go down for any sort of time, the edge rotation would be fried. 

The Bears are hoping to get DeMarcus Walker inside rushes more often, which is why they added Darrell Taylor. Still, Taylor would be across from either Walker or Booker in these scenarios, and then the team would be looking at Dominique Robinson to get involved with legitimate snap counts again. 

The pass rush is bad behind Sweat, and he clearly lifts this unit up. They would be lost without him.