Bears defensive end Montez Sweat had big dreams when he hit the NFL as a first-round pick, and while that certainly included piling up sacks, money and accolades, he really wanted to play for a winner.
To this point, he’s been at the wrong places at the wrong times.
He was a first-round pick of the Commanders back in their toxicity era, and they went 35-54-1 before trading him to the Bears in 2023. That wasn’t any better as they bumbled to 9-17 after his arrival. Sweat is 29, and going into his seventh season, he’s played just one playoff game.
“I haven’t had a winning season in my career — I’m just worried about winning,” he told the Sun-Times. “As you get later in your career, you value winning more. It’s pretty evident for me that I need to get on the winning side of things just to live a happier life.
“Losing takes a toll. It has an effect over time. But you’re always optimistic.”
It echoed something former Bears star Khalil Mack said at roughly the same age and stage of his career. Going into the 2019 season, he had all the individual honors, but already felt he was “running out of time.”
The Bears appear to be headed the right way at the moment as they approach their season opener Monday against the Vikings, but that’s never a certainty. And Sweat will have more impact on whether their aspirations become reality than any player but quarterback Caleb Williams.
Over general manager Ryan Poles’ first three seasons, the Bears had the fewest sacks in the NFL with 90 in 51 games. It’s nearly impossible for any defense to thrive without a reliable pass rush, and their deficiency there has undercut a highly talented secondary.
Defensive end has been a sore spot throughout Poles’ tenure, which caused his urgency to trade a second-round pick for Sweat and immediately secure him on a four-year, $98 million extension.
Poles put some work into the defensive line this offseason by signing tackle Grady Jarrett and end Dayo Odeyingbo to three-year deals at a combined $90.8 million. The Bears also are betting on young tackle Gervon Dexter coming into his own. Still, Pro Football Focus ranked it the 18th-best d-line going into the season, saying it “lacked star power.”
That’s where Sweat has to show up.
“There’s a little pressure there,” he admitted.
Shouldn’t there be?
Sweat is the Bears’ most expensive player this season with a salary-cap hit of $25.1 million, and his average salary of $24.5 million still ranks 11th among pass rushers even after major extensions for the Packers’ Micah Parsons and others.
Sweat also has a track record that elevates expectations. In 2023, playing half a season for each team, he led the Commanders with 6 1/2 sacks and the Bears with six, with his career-high total of 12 1/2 ranking 10th in the league. In the last three seasons, no Bears player other than him has finished with more than five sacks.
Coming off 12 1/2 sacks and his first Pro Bowl selection, Sweat went into last season eying All-Pro as the next step. He felt ready to put himself on the same level as elite pass rushers like the Browns’ Myles Garrett and the Steelers’ T.J. Watt.
It was quite a letdown. Sweat had little help on the defensive line — DeMarcus Walker managed just 3 1/2 sacks playing opposite him — and was hindered by shin and ankle injuries. He played 58% of the total defensive snaps and finished with 5 1/2 sacks, the second-fewest of his career.
Sweat downplayed the injuries by saying that everyone in the NFL plays through them, so it “wasn’t a crazy, big deal,” but he acknowledged last season “was probably the most injured I’ve ever been.”
He isn’t resetting his goals coming off a down season, however. Sweat is still targeting All-Pro status and said he’s more concerned with “proving myself right” than getting caught up in what PFF or other critics say.
New defensive coordinator Dennis Allen might find better ways to set Sweat up with one-on-one matchups than former coach Matt Eberflus did, and that’d be a good start to reigniting him. Sweat is a force at 6-foot-6, 270 pounds, and few offensive tackles can manage him without help.
Between Allen’s schematic improvements and some help from Jarrett, Dexter and Odeyingbo, Sweat is poised to reassert himself as every quarterback’s worst nightmare. And if he does that, it’ll go a long way toward getting those wins he’s desperately wanted.