The Chicago Bears’ pass rush remains in a state of uncertainty as training camp unfolds, and the way league personnel view top defensive end Montez Sweat underscores that point.
Sweat is entering his third season with the Bears, but just his second full campaign, and his performance in 2024 left plenty of room for improvement. After logging 12.5 sacks (6.0 with the Bears) and notching his first Pro Bowl trip in 2023, Sweat had 5.5 sacks in 2024.
Fittingly, he dropped in ESPN’s annual list of the top 10 players at each position.
Poll Shows Bears DE Montez Sweat Took Step Back in 2024
Montez Sweat Entering Critical 3rd Season With Bears
Sweat, who turns 29 in September, was among those “also receiving votes” in the poll, which gauged 70 front office personnel, coaches, and scouts, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on July 9.
He and Green Bay Packer OLB Rashan Gary both fell under the same header, while Detroit Lions pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson ranked seventh on the list, and Jonathan Greenard of the Minnesota Vikings earned an “honorable mention.”
More importantly, it is indeed a step back on the list for Sweat, who earned an honorable mention in 2024.
“Although Sweat didn’t join the Bears’ squad until late October, he still finished the season leading Chicago in sacks (six) and had four tackles for loss and three passes defensed,” Fowler wrote in July 2024.
An anonymous personnel member told Fowler for the piece that Sweat “lifted” the defense in 2023 and that “his length and ability to cover ground creates problems for tackles.”
Bears general manager Ryan Poles gave Sweat a four-year, $98 million contract extension with the Bears in 2023.
He has $20.9 million in guaranteed salary for 2025. However, per Over The Cap, the Bears can trade him with a post-June 1 designation and shed $21 million with $4.1 million in dead money in 2026. He also has no guaranteed money on his deal for the final year of the deal in 2027.
Montez Sweat Must Take Game to New Level
Sweat earned a 74.8 grade from Pro Football Focus for his efforts in 2023. That stands as the fourth-best mark of his career. However, it ominously led to a 65.7 mark in 2024, the second-worst he has drawn as a pro. His pass rush grade (67.6) was the third-worst of his career, while his run-stopping (65.5) and tackling (61.2) grades set new personal lows.
Sweat also logged a career-low 61% snap share, per Pro Football Reference, and snapped his streak of back-to-back seasons playing in every regular season game.
The Bears finished seventh in pressure rate and tied for the ninth-most sacks in 2024.
If the Bears’ pass rush is going to be better in 2025, they need Sweat to not only bounce back but also take his game to another level. He has one season with double-digit sacks in his career, but has come close on two other occasions.
Perhaps new bookend Dayo Odeyingbo (16.5 sacks in four seasons) will draw enough attention or force the action in Sweat’s direction enough to see the latter get his second 10-plus-sack season.
The Bears are, again, thin behind them.
Second-year fifth-round pick Austin Booker is the most promising in a group that also includes 2022 fifth-rounder Dominique Robinson, whom new head coach Ben Johnson said impressed him during the offseason program, and former Los Angeles Rams seventh-round pick Daniel Hardy.
They added two-time Pro Bowler Grady Jarrett and rookie second-round pick Shemar Turner, who, along with 2022 second-rounder Gervon Dexter Sr., should help with interior push.
The Bears still need more from Sweat, their second-highest-paid player behind DJ Moore.