The Chicago Bears have made several upgrades to the roster this offseason, at least on paper, though none as impactful as what the Green Bay Packers pulled off Thursday.
Green Bay traded two first-round picks and interior defensive lineman Kenny Clark to the Dallas Cowboys on August 28 in return for four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Micah Parsons, who will spend at least the next five seasons terrorizing quarterbacks across the NFC North while donning green and gold.
The immediate news obviously isn’t excellent for the Bears, who have some questions at the left tackle position and don’t have a clearcut, blue-chip option there longterm. However, losing out on Parsons also matters in Chicago because the team doesn’t have an elite edge rusher of its own.
The Bears had several issues to address coming into Ben Johnson’s first year as head coach, and despite a load of draft picks and among the most salary cap space in the NFL, they were never going to be able to fix every deficiency in one offseason.
Chicago had the kind of draft capital necessary to get in the conversation for Parsons, and multiple analysts named the Bears as potential suitors for the three-time All-Pro linebacker along the way, but it’s unclear if Chicago ever had any intention of throwing its proverbial hat in the ring for Parsons.
That being said, the franchise absolutely should pursue free agent defensive end Za’Darius Smith before he reunites with the Detroit Lions. Doing so would at least be some sort of counter to the Packers’ blockbuster move Thursday and would weaken the two-time consecutive NFC North champion Lions by way of subtraction.
Lions Appear Engaged in Stalled Negotiations With Za’Darius Smith for 2025 Season
GettyFormer Cleveland Browns defensive end Za’Darius Smith
Detroit traded with the Cleveland Browns for Smith ahead of last year’s deadline.
Smith tallied four sacks for the Lions in eight regular-season games and produced nine sacks on the season. The three-time Pro Bowler, who has also had stints in Green Bay and with the Minnesota Vikings, will play the upcoming campaign at 33 years old.
Detroit GM Brad Holmes said in early August that his franchise and Smith’s representation remained in touch, implying that the two sides were working toward a deal. However, the Lions kick off their season at Lambeau Field nine days from now and still have just Aidan Hutchinson as a proven commodity on the edge of the defense.
Bears, Lions Both Lack Depth of Talent at Edge Defender Position
GettyFormer Detroit Lions edge rusher Za’Darius Smith.
The rest of Detroit’s roster at the edge position is either weak, inexperienced and unproven, or both. The pass rush looks, on paper at least, like the biggest hole on the Lions’ roster on either side of the football.
Chicago’s situation isn’t substantially better. The Bears perhaps have more depth at the position, but Hutchinson is far and away the best edge rusher/pocket disruptor between the two teams. Chicago’s depth also took a hit when second-year pass rusher Austin Booker went on the injured reserve list (IR) earlier this week with a knee injury that is going to cost him at least a month of games.
As such, signing Smith would be a mini-coup for the Bears that would both improve an area of weakness on the defense, while also hurting their top competition simultaneously.
Smith is coming off a two-year, $23 million contract. Chicago could potentially sign him for somewhere in the ballpark of $10 million annually on a one-year, or possibly two-year, deal.
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