With 24 hours to go before the legal tampering period begins, most people believe the Chicago Bears had a clear plan of action. Two positions have dominated discussions as areas they would address in free agency: center and edge rusher. If GM Ryan Poles could secure two credible players at those spots, he’d go into the NFL draft with loads of flexibility. Unfortunately, things change fast in this league. Yesterday’s expected price tag can often change on a dime. A perfect lesson of this has occurred thanks to Myles Garrett.
The superstar defensive end had been embroiled in a standoff with the Cleveland Browns over his desire to be traded. The organization refused to entertain the idea. Rumors were spreading that Garrett would consider sitting out games in 2025. Everything shifted on Sunday when the two sides came together on a blockbuster extension, resetting the market to pay the defensive end $40 million per year. Just like that, the price tag of every edge rusher in the upcoming free agent class went up.
Myles Garrett may force the Bears to reallocate their resources.
Yes, they need pass rusher help. That won’t magically go away. However, it may force Poles to reconsider which names he will pursue. Khalil Mack and Josh Sweat are the ones mentioned the most as potential targets. They were already going to be expensive. Seeing Myles Garrett get that much money will convince their agents that they can and should demand more. While both are still very good players, they aim to get paid like great ones. Poles has said he wants to avoid trying to solve his problems in free agency. This is a perfect example of why. The market only gets more expensive every year. Perhaps the best thing for the Bears to do is find a reasonable second-tier option and go hunting for a long-term solution in the draft. It’s not ideal, but that is the reality of the situation.
Nothing burger. Garrett was never a part of the Bears plan because of the price in draft capital alone. Bears need to build a roster not just two expensive edge rushers.
But if they want to go expensive, then I hope the deal with Cincy that has the Bears sending picks #10 and # 39 in exchange for Hendrickson and Cincys #17.
The other owners as a monolith should really just refuse to negotiate with players using Cleveland contracts as precedent. There’s “getting paid what you’re worth” and then there’s “do you want to win?”. There’s a salary cap and floor, we’re not dealing with the MLB here. There’s finite financial resources just like there’s finite draft resources so unless these players think their GMs are drafting all-pro guys with every pick(which they clearly aren’t otherwise there would be no need to pay those contracts, they’d just let them walk for the comp pick and “next man up” it every time) they… Read more »
His same ilk would just luv to get their dirty hand on the Bears.
I guess Garrett’s request to be traded to a contender was just smoke!!
Good for Myles. Hate that Haslam and his ilk. Should not have been allowed as an NFL owner. They are trying to take over the League but have to weaken, damage, or destroy it in the process before capturing it.