The Chicago Bears‘ decision on whether to add to the pass rush in 2026 is probably going to come down to how healthy and productive defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo proves to be across the first half of the regular season.
Chicago invested $48 million over three years to bring Odeyingbo over from the Indianapolis Colts in free agency in March 2025. However, poor play across eight games and a subsequent Achilles tendon rupture rendered Odeyingbo a fully sunk cost for the first year of that deal.
After putting up just two tackles for loss and one sack, Odeyingbo will be a key cog as the third DE in the rotation behind Montez Sweat and Austin Booker.
If Odeyingbo can live up to the billing in his age-27 campaign, Chicago perhaps won’t need to spend on a veteran edge-rusher to round out a group that struggled mightily in 2025 to pressure opposing QBs. If he can’t, the Bears could be shopping by early October.
Aaron Schatz of ESPN on Monday, July 6 named Odeyingbo as the non-starter Chicago fans need to know heading into the season for that exact reason.
“Can [Odeyingbo] get healthy and get his groove back?” Schatz wrote. “The Bears need edge help behind Sweat and Booker.”
Bears Have Young, Relatively Unproven Pass-Rush Talent on Roster in Austin Booker, Shemar Turner
GettyChicago Bears defensive lineman Shemar Turner.
In the same article from ESPN, Mike Clay named the defensive front as the Bears’ single greatest weakness heading into 2025.
“Chicago didn’t do much to upgrade the front line of a defense that ranked 31st in pass rush win rate (28.8%) and 26th in run stop win rate (29.1%) last season,” Clay wrote. “There is plenty of upside at edge-rusher, though with some uncertainty. Montez Sweat (10 sacks last season) is terrific, but third-year man Austin Booker has yet to play a full season, while Dayo Odeyingbo is recovering from a torn Achilles.”
The Bears also have 2025 second-round pick Shemar Turner, a hybrid defensive lineman that the team is kicking out to defensive end on a permanent basis in 2026, upon whom they might rely next season. But Turner played just 75 total snaps across five appearances (zero starts) during his rookie campaign before an ACL injury ended it prematurely.
Bears Have Multiple Good Options to Add Veteran Edge-Rusher in Free Agency, but not Necessarily for Long
GettyFormer Dallas Cowboys edge-rusher Jadeveon Clowney.
There are multiple options to whom the Bears might turn if they need a veteran pass-rusher in the coming months.
One such player is Jadeveon Clowney, most recently of the Dallas Cowboys. However, Clowney has drawn interest from other teams in need of some pass-rush help, including potentially the Green Bay Packers.
Thus, it is uncertain if he will make it all the way to September, or perhaps even later, before landing on another roster.
Five-time Pro Bowl pass-rusher Joey Bosa is another name floating around free agency, though ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported recently that Bosa is leaning more toward retirement than playing another snap in the NFL.
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