Bears edge rusher plans for 2026 are not what fans will like to hear

The Chicago Bears made the playoffs for the first time in a while in 2025, and they even won the NFC North and a playoff game over the Green Bay Packers.

It was a wildly successful season, but now, looking forward to the 2026 NFL season, the Bears, even after the NFL Draft, have some work to do with the roster, especially at edge rusher.

However, according to ESPN's Courtney Cronin, the Bears don't believe they have such needs, as they are confident in the edge rusher room for 2026.

Bears fans won't like their edge rusher plans for 2026

"Aside from adding depth on the interior of the D-line with Neville Gallimore, Kentavius Street, and James Lynch in free agency, the group the Bears currently have is who they're expected to field this fall," Cronin writes.

Despite clearly needing help at edge rusher this offseason, the Bears are instead believing in their in-house options rebounding and developing for the 2026 season.

Montez Sweat is a good starter, but Dayo Odeyingbo, Austin Booker, Jeremiah Martin, Daniel Hardy, and Jonathan Garvin all have some question marks about their game.

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Even the interior of the defensive line, with Grady Jarrett, Gervon Dexter Sr., Shemar Turner, Gallimore, Lynch, Street, Jordan van den Berg, and Jayden Loving, isn't an ideal room, though it's better than the edge rusher group.

Last season, the Bears saw Sweat record 10 sacks, Booker 4.5, and Dexter 6.0 sacks. No other defensive lineman for the Bears had more than 1.5 sacks.

It was a major area of need this offseason, and should've been addressed. But the Bears are instead going to "... bank heavily on their ability to coach better to generate better results from effectively the same pool of talent that they fielded in 2025," Cronin writes.

This is an unnecessary risk for the Bears to take, especially since there were solid pass rusher options available this offseason to improve this very important unit.

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