As teams start to kick off their training camps and players arrive, excitement reaches new levels for the fans. The Chicago Bears have countless storylines to keep track of that will certainly have fans overreacting, as all fans do best, but not all of them are positive.
While the hype continues around Caleb Williams and the offense, it's the defensive side of the ball that has the most question marks. Stop me if you've heard this before ... the Bears' pass rush room is under a microscope.
For Bears fans who are hoping the team goes after another pass rusher after roster cuts happen toward the end of the summer, there's one team that might give Ryan Poles fewer options after some recent news.
Former Detroit Lions defensive end Pat O'Connor has announced his retirement from the NFL at age 32. Because of this, the deep Lions defensive line room has one more spot open, and the Bears' chances at potentially landing a youthful dark horse took a hit.
The Bears could've potentially stolen one of two young Lions pass rushers before the Pat O'Connor news
Now, some fans might be wondering why on earth this could possibly be a story. And, you know what? I don't think those fans realize the height of the current situation in Chicago's defensive end room.
Players not named Montez Sweat have a total of 25.0 career sacks. That includes seven players in all, and four of them have never registered an NFL sack (zero rookies in that group).
Read that again! Please!
So, for fans who want to hype up the likes of Austin Booker, Daniel Hardy, Dayo Odeyingbo, Jamree Kromah, Jeremiah Martin and Jonathan Garvin, go right ahead. But the Bears' pass rush room looks downright pitiful on paper (and in reality, to be frank).
With O'Connor retiring in Detroit, that opens up a spot for one of two recent draft picks: 2026 seventh-round pick Tyre West and 2025 sixth-round pick Ahmed Hassanein.
When roster cuts go down, the Bears could either go for a veteran who is as proven as they could possibly find at that point. Or, they could opt for a young, recent draft pick they might see as a worthwhile project who could provide some depth.
Detroit's defensive line group is crowded. It's deep. Because of that, there was a real possibility of both West and Hassanein ending up cut, and for Detroit to hope they sneak through waivers and come back on the practice squad.
With Ben Johnson's connection to Detroit, maybe he would try to steal one of the two as Chicago's final defensive end.
But again, now that O'Connor is retired, there's a great chance at least one of them ends up sticking to Detroit's final roster. That limits the pool of players Johnson could try to pull over from his former team.
What exactly will the Bears do to help bolster the depth, here, if anything?
Read more: 3 young players the Bears should develop, 3 to give up on
Hopefully, we see some surprises come throughout training camp. Otherwise, the group could be in trouble.
Add us as a preferred source on Google