Chicago Bears fans were split over which Washington Commanders edge rusher they preferred at the 2023 trade deadline: Montez Sweat or Chase Young.
The Bears ultimately traded for Sweat, who singlehandedly transformed the defense and ignited a second half of the season that kept Chicago "in the hunt" for the playoffs much longer than any fan could've imagined.
Sweat played nine games for the Bears in 2023 and finished the year with a team-high six sacks. He signed a four-year, $98 million extension with the team.
As for Young, he was traded to the San Francisco 49ers, and while he's one game away from playing in the Super Bowl, the odds that he will sign a long-term deal to remain in the Bay Area seem low.
In fact, ESPN recently polled NFL team executives, scouts and personnel figures who made some bold predictions about the upcoming offseason. One of those predictions has Young reuniting with Sweat in Chicago.
The Bears are expected to add an edge rusher in free agency or the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, so projecting Young to Chicago makes sense.
"Chicago, in its efforts to bolster its pass rush, evaluated both Young and Sweat in the months leading up to the deadline," ESPN's Jeremy Fowler wrote. "Sweat landed a four-year, $98 million extension with the Bears, who could spend more money in free agency to sign a pass-rusher such as Young."
Young hasn't been nearly as productive for the 49ers as Sweat was for the Bears; Chase Young only had 2.5 sacks in nine games. But he's also playing opposite Nick Bosa, who gets his fair share of the quarterback takedowns. He had 10.5 during the regular season.
The big questions facing Young's free-agency outlook are his injury history and character concerns. He isn't a bad guy, but there have been rumors that his me-first personality didn't always work well inside the Commanders' locker room. It could be a non-starter for Ryan Poles and his focus on culture.
Get ready for many more big-name players being connected to the Chicago Bears as free agency inches closer. Whether the national media wants to acknowledge it or not, the Bears are an attractive destination for players who want to join a roster on the rise. And it's a franchise that can pay top dollar for their services, too.
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