One lesson to learn about the NFL is many say it stands for Not For Long. That means things don’t last forever in this league, especially regarding the idea that you’ll spend your entire career playing for one team. Very few players ever get to experience that. Montez Sweat had hoped he’d be one of them. The Washington Commanders made him a 1st round pick in 2019. After a slow start to his career, he’d morphed into one of the NFC’s best pass rushers over the past two seasons. Nothing indicated Washington was unhappy with him—quite the opposite.
So one can imagine he was blindsided when the Chicago Bears traded for him last October, sending a 2nd round pick to Washington in the deal. When he arrived, Sweat looked unemotional about the situation. He merely stated he was trying to adjust to his new surroundings. Maybe then he’d have a better grasp on what to feel. It turns out the defensive end had been hiding a cold fury. Dan Pompei of The Athletic revealed in his latest article that Sweat was irate about the trade.
It involved a lot of words he wishes he could take back.
The Commanders defense just finished a tape review of a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on a Monday in October, and the players were making their way to the practice field. That’s when Sweat’s phone lit up. Bilbo told him he had been traded to the Bears for a second-round pick.
“I was shocked,” he says. “In disbelief.”
Coach Ron Rivera texted Sweat, asking him to come to his office to talk about the trade. Sweat didn’t want to talk about it — he wanted to yell about it.
“I was very emotional,” he says. “I was angry and probably said some things I wanted to take back. Maybe.”
He didn’t realize a different climate would produce more, bigger and sweeter fruit.
The prospect of change, Sweat now realizes, frightened him. If he had to be traded anywhere, he hoped it would be to Atlanta, where Sweat has a home, his family lives and he trains in the offseason at DSA Performance…
…The Bears thought — maybe knew — he could be better than ever and were prepared to say so with their checkbook. The contract negotiations were hastened, Sweat says, when he told his new team, “I’m not getting on the field until something is worked out.”
Montez Sweat had reasons to feel upset.
He was in the midst of his best season as a pro. Teammates Jonathan Allen and Da’Ron Payne had already gotten their extensions. Why was he the one getting traded instead? For a 2nd round pick, no less. They couldn’t even get a 1st. He likely knew Chicago’s reputation at that point. They’d had one winning season in the past ten years. Sweat likely feared he was walking into an even worse quagmire than the one he left behind. It didn’t take long to realize his assumptions were way off.
Rather than being combative at his stand-offish approach, GM Ryan Poles calmly acquiesced to his desires to get a deal done. Within four days of his arrival, Montez Sweat had a new $98 million deal. Not only that, but it didn’t take long for him to recognize he’d landed in a perfect situation. Matt Eberflus’ scheme allowed him to play more aggressively, getting up the field to attack the quarterback. For the first time in his career, Sweat felt free. Looking back, he wonders why his reaction was so bad.
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It goes back to people not liking change.
I’ll be honest, I was quite peeved when my former band director informed me I was being traded to a school 2 counties over. He said my Oboe playing was Second Chair worthy, but I was an overall “soul drain” to the rest of the band due to my negative attitude and tendency to blame others. That band was dum anyway.
Sweat produced after he got paid. That tells me he is a professional who honors his craft. That’s all I ask.
The anger most likely comes from the feeling of helplessness. Nobody consulted Sweat about where his future would be. He was powerless to do anything about it and was not consulted. That’s the deal. Thank your players association but you get the opportunity to make millions. It’s about control. Look what CW was trying to wrest away from the Bears this week in the negotiations. The franchise tag is a means of control.
I don’t like change either. Usually, when I pay cash, the coins go straight into the tip jar. I’ll keep the bills, though, except at our fish store, where I drop them a single after charging the fish. Helps make sure I get good cuts going forward.
I admit. I don’t like change.
But you’d have to be an idiot to think that you can hold up change while the world passes you by.
Better to be slaw and cautious about it, but once you see what is happening and how everyone (including you) can benefit, embrace it and jump ahead to take advantage.
People who are stubborn enough not to change, often finds their lives getting increasingly worse.
And I’m not just talking about sports, the Bears or Montez Sweat.