The most important part of the Bears’ trade for defensive end Montez Sweat last season wasn’t the immediate and long-sought boost he gave their pass rush, but rather the long-term opportunity to fill a major need with a player at the onset of his prime.
It was the right time for them to get in on Sweat, a former first-round pick who was good but not great for the Commanders over his first five seasons, as long as the Bears could get him to buy into their plan to take him to the next level.
They’re about to see it all come together.
“He came back in great condition — that’s the No. 1 thing,” coach Matt Eberflus said Saturday, circling back to endurance issues that limited Sweat at times last season. “He looks like he’s in great shape so that he can put more good reps together, stack those reps.
“For him, it’s about getting that consistent get-off [from the line of scrimmage], because once he does that, it’s over. When he does that, he’s going to be elite and dominant.”
The Bears want Sweat to give them 8-10 snaps in a row at maximum effort, and he didn’t appear to be quite at that level last season. He needed a break late in a loss to the Lions, for example, despite ultimately playing just 63% of the snaps that game. Top pass rushers usually stay in for 80% or more, and Sweat topped out at 75% for the Bears last season.
But at 27 and coming off his first Pro Bowl selection, Sweat is poised to ignite a defense that aspires to be top-five in the NFL. The Bears are still waiting for a wingman to emerge among their current pass rushers or free agents like Yannick Ngakoue, but at least they have one of those spots solidified for the next several seasons. Sweat had six sacks in nine games for the Bears and was 10th in the league with 12 1/2 for the season.
General manager Ryan Poles’ deal for Sweat looks more like an investment than a gamble at this point. The move drew some criticism because Poles gave up a second-round pick (No. 40 overall) merely for the right to sign Sweat to a four-year, $98 million extension essentially sight unseen.
But pass rush has been a glaring weak spot for the team, and he wasn’t going to find this caliber of help that late in the draft. The $24.5 million average salary also looks reasonable in hindsight and, given escalating contracts, could be considered a modest bargain by this time next year.
The Bears facilitated fast improvement from Sweat, but his buy-in was key. It was clear early on that Pole and Eberflus had stricter standards than the Commanders, and Sweat was eager to embrace them. Teams always prefer to develop homegrown talent rather than import it, but Sweat’s quick acclimation makes it feel like he’s been one of their own all along.
“Instead of coming in with a playbook where everybody around me already knows what they’re doing, I’m actually learning it with them, going through the process,” Sweat said, comparing his midseason arrival to having a full training camp this season. “And I’m bringing some knowledge that I have from last year into this year.”
It also puts him in a better position to fully step into his stature as one of the most high-profile players — and the highest-paid player — on the team, which might’ve been an uncomfortable role as a newcomer last November.
“I take that all wholeheartedly,” Sweat said. “It’s definitely a bigger role.”
It’s the perfect time for Sweat to take that on. The best teams count on their most talented players to be leaders, and for the Bears to climb this season, they need Sweat to do so as well.