Could a $21 million Bears starter already be in danger of losing his job?

For all the conversation that's existed around the Bears this offseason, not a ton has been about position battles. The roster is, for the most part, pretty set in stone. That's certainly not a bad thing – actually having guys good enough to enjoy job security at most of the positions on the field is a testament to how far this roster has come in the last two or three years.

But it does, however, make for a boring summer of discourse. Usually right about now, everyone's cranking out roster battles to watch this summer, and we're all debating CB3 performance at OTAs or something extremely sick like that.

This year, one of the few areas of debate on the Bears' roster is at edge rusher. The irony is that everyone in that room will probably make the cut, if only because the depth there is not particularly impressive. But the depth chart order is still interesting! Ish. That's the angle that the fine folks over at Windy City Gridiron took when talking about the edge, where they think a (moderatley) high-priced veteran could lose his job to a rookie.

Could a $21 million Bears starter already be in danger of losing his job?

Here's what WCG had to say about the idea of rookie edge rusher Austin Booker taking snaps away from DeMarcus Walker:

The main competition for Walker right now is Booker, who the Bears gave up a 2025 fourth-round pick to acquire in Round 5 of this year’s draft. He broke out for Kansas last season, tallying 8.0 sacks and 12.0 tackles for a loss despite only have two total tackles in his collegiate career before 2023. He’s a toolsy, lengthy edge rusher with a quick first step and a high motor. The issue with Booker is that he’s raw as a processor and doesn’t always have the best plan as a pass-rusher, which could limit his immediate value in Year 1. Booker has the tools to be a starter in the NFL, but there might be a learning curve that prevents him from being one right away.

So it kinda sounds like they don't think there's much of a competition to be had this season. After cashing in with the Bears following a career-high seven-sack season, Walker wasn't all that effective with the Bears last year, playing in 17 games and tallying 3.5 sacks. If Booker can play his way onto the field, you'd imagine those numbers aren't too hard to beat.