Most of the conversations will focus on the Chicago Bears offense after a deflating 17-16 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Rightfully so. They go out and put up over 400 yards of total offense including 160+ on the ground and can only manage 16 points? That is pretty much their season in a nutshell. Yet the defense should not be totally absolved. Though they were far from the ones to blame for the defeat, there is one or two notable standouts who haven’t been doing their job lately. None more so than Leonard Floyd.
Of any defender in 2019, he has been far and away the biggest disappointment. The former 1st round pick finished 2018 so well with four sacks in his final six games. Then he exploded for two more on opening night against the Green Bay Packers. That was it. This would finally be the year the outside linebacker would earn his spurs. Now here they are. Seven games into the season and Floyd has gone sackless in the previous six.
That is not a misprint. Floyd, playing across from Khalil Mack during that entire time, has zero sacks in his last six games. This begs the question. Is he really worth much to the Bears beyond 2019? He hasn’t become the pass rusher they’d hoped. Sure he still has use in coverage and against the run but that kind of player is not worth over $13 million which they’ll be paying him in 2020 on his fifth-year option.
So maybe it’s time for them to consider trading him.
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Leonard Floyd isn’t doing the job he was drafted for
Keep this in mind. Floyd was a 9th overall pick in 2016. He’s played a total of 45 games. In that time, he has 18.5 sacks. The Bears didn’t draft him to play decent against the run or in coverage. They drafted him to hunt the quarterback. He hasn’t gotten the job done despite a myriad of one-on-one opportunities. As a result, the Bears pass rush has suffered. Teams know they’re free to double-team Mack because Floyd isn’t good enough to take advantage.
So why not deal him? The deadline is October 29th. The Bears are 3-4 and unlikely to secure even a wild card playoff spot due to Packers and Vikings being so far ahead in the division race. Trading Floyd will not only secure them another draft pick for next season, it will also free up that $13 million in cap space for next year which they can put to use towards either another pass rusher or other positions of need.
Will the Bears do this?
Not likely. They have no options on the roster to take his place, especially with backup Isaiah Irving now dealing with a quad injury. They’ll just keep him where he is and use his skill set as best they can. Yet it doesn’t change the fact he hasn’t lived up to his draft status. The Bears need to embrace this reality and move on.
