3. The Chicago Bears paid more because Montez Sweat has fewer injury concerns
This one is pretty obvious. Chase Young tore his ACL in 2021. That caused him to miss most of the 2022 season, and he came into 2023 with major question marks. Through three seasons Young played 1,425 snaps. Meanwhile, Sweat played 1,953 snaps over his first three seasons. It is clear that they are going for durability when they are choosing Sweat over Young.
However, it is also worth noting that when Young does play, he plays more. Sweat has played 64% of the snaps, 66%, 69%, 70%, and 69% over the five years of his career. When Young is playing, he is playing 78%, 80%, 65%, and 84% of the snaps. This year, he is playing 15% more often than Montez Sweat. When you think that Young is three years younger and plays a heavier workload when he is healthy, it is hard to completely trade off the difference in picks just because Young tore his ACL and did not show much in the 2022 season. He has shown enough in 2023 and is young enough that you would think his trade value would be closer to Sweat.