The Bears didn’t add a headliner to the NFL’s blockbuster trade deadline Tuesday.
The good news is, neither did any of their NFC North opponents.
On Monday, coach Ben Johnson declared the Bears were “right in the mix” to take a division that “any team could win.” On Tuesday, the Vikings, Packers and Lions made nary a trade while the Bears simply added Browns backup Joe Tryon-Shoyinka as a defensive end depth piece. Even that might be overselling the matter — Tryon-Shoyinka played just 31 snaps on defense for the Browns this year.
Bears GM Ryan Poles ultimately decided against spending future assets on a significant upgrade this year. The price was right for the move he made, at least. To add Tryon-Shoyinka, the Bears merely swapped a 2026 sixth-round pick for a seventh-rounder that originally belonged to the Eagles. He’ll be a rental — the 26-year-old is playing out the end of a one-year, $4.75 million deal he signed in March.
He fits defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s preference for size at defensive end, measuring at 6-5, 260 lbs. Pass-rush production, though, is lacking.
The Buccaneers made the Washington edge rusher the last draft pick of the 2021 first round and started him for 45 games over four years, where he recorded 15 sacks and 35 quarterback hits. They didn’t pick up his fifth-year option, making him a free agent last spring.
At the NFL Scouting Combine this year, Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles said Tryon-Shoyinka ultimately didn’t rush the quarterback consistently enough.
“I think Joe did everything right for us except get to the quarterback on a consistent basis,” he said. “I thought from a run standpoint he was fine, from a drop standpoint he was fine, from a toughness standpoint, he was fine. He did everything [we asked of him]. Obviously, when you think edge rushers, you want to think ‘get to the quarterback’ first. And that didn’t show up from a double-digit standpoint.”
The Bears were in the market for an edge rusher after watching Dayo Odeyingo and Shemar Turner go down in consecutive weeks. Odeyingbo, who signed a three-year, $48 million deal this offseason, is out for the season with a torn Achilles’ tendon. The team put him on injured reserve Tuesday to make room for their trade addition.
Turner, one of the Bears’ three second-round picks, suffered a season-ending ACL injury two weeks ago against the Ravens. The Bears moved Turner from defensive tackle to end in Week 6 and he immediately helped to bolster what was one of the league’s worst run defenses.
The two had combined for only one sack all season — Odeyingbo’s, which came in Week 1. Odeyingbo, though, started every game and played three-quarters of the Bears’ snaps. The Bears need someone to take his place.
Their defensive end lineup remains shaky beside Montez Sweat, who has had three sacks and two forced fumbles in the past four games. Austin Booker, who had a sack against the Bengals on Sunday in his first game of the year, figures to start. He led the NFL with four sacks before hurting his knee in the preseason and missing the Bears’ first seven games.
Dominique Robinson, who hurt his knee on the opening kickoff of the Ravens game and didn’t play Sunday, and Daniel Hardy, who let the Browns’ onside kick hit his foot, round out the room.
The Eagles traded for Jaelan Phillips and the Ravens made a move for Dre’Mont Jones on Monday, and they proved to be the best edge rushers dealt before the deadline. The Bengals’ Trey Hendrickson, the Jets’ Jermaine Johnson and the Dolphins’ Bradley Chubb weren’t moved Tuesday.
The Packers, of course, got the best one available two months ago when they traded for Cowboys star Micah Parsons. The Bears will play him twice next month, when they hope to still be playoff contention.
