Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus seemed to cause a stir on Tuesday when comments made during an interview with CBS Sports made it seem that the Bears were angling toward acquiring a pass rusher to put on the opposite side of Montez Sweat.
With disgruntled pass rushers such as Matthew Judon of the New England Patriots and Haasan Reddick of the New York Jets potentially available in trade talks, many took Eberflus' comments as a sign that general manager Ryan Poles had a move up his sleeve.
The move that Eberflus may have been hinting at was a trade for Judon.
On Wednesday, the Patriots traded Judon to the Atlanta Falcons for a third-round pick. Entering the final year of a four-year deal that he signed with the Patriots in 2021, Judon was hopeful of landing a new contract before the start of the season. Instead, the two sides never got close to a new deal, and he is now a member of the Falcons.
It seems that prior to agreeing to the trade with the Falcons, the Patriots were in heavy discussion with the Bears.
While the #Bears were heavily involved in Matt Judon trade talks, the #Texans also showed some interest, I’m told. The #Patriots had a healthy market for him, ultimately leading to a #Falcons deal.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) August 15, 2024
The Bears were in heavy pursuit of Matthew Judon.
Now, it makes sense why Eberflus was so giddy when talking about the Bears' pass rush on Wednesday. Eberflus may have been under the impression that the Bears were going to be on the verge of acquiring another Pro Bowl pass rusher.
The move would have been eerily similar to the trade that the Bears made for Khalil Mack prior to the 2018 season. At the time, the Bears thought they had the quarterback position solved with Mitch Trubisky on his rookie deal and traded for Mack while also making him the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL.
After missing out on Judon, it will be interesting to see how the Bears pivot. While rookie Austin Booker has impressed in preseason, the effort to get Judon suggests that the Bears want to add another prominent pass rusher to their defensive line. While Reddick has requested a trade, the Jets don't seem motivated to move the player they acquired from the Philadelphia Eagles earlier this offseason.