Bears predicted to drop $65 million on elite edge rusher, interior defensive lineman

When it comes to the Chicago Bears' defense, the team could use more help at edge rusher and along the interior of the defensive line.

The Bears finished with the No. 27 run defense in the NFL last season and could use more firepower for its pass-rush after posting just 35 sacks.

In a mock offseason for the Bears, Sports Mockery's Erik Lambert predicts that the Bears will drop a whopping $65 million in free agency to sign Cincinnati Bengals edge rusher Trey Hendrickson and Denver Broncos defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers.

Lambert projects a two-year, $50 million deal for Hendrickson, and a two-year, $15 million contract for Franklin-Myers.

Trading for Maxx Crosby sounds nice, but the price tag might be too much. Hendrickson has ties to Dennis Allen from their time in New Orleans together. When healthy, he remains a highly disruptive pass rusher. Pairing him with Montez Sweat and Austin Booker should give the Bears’ defense some juice, at least for a couple of seasons. Add Franklin-Myers as an interior rusher, and you’re cooking with gas.

Hendrickson is slated to hit free agency this offseason after failing to reach agreement on an extension with the Bengals in recent years.

While the disgruntled Hendrickson will almost certainly want out of Cincinnati, the Bengals do have some control over him if they decide to use the franchise tag.

From there, the Bengals could again attempt to sign Hendrickson, or they could turn around and trade him to make sure they have something to show for his departure.

Of course, if the Bengals take the tag and trade route, it'll make acquiring Hendrickson much more difficult for Chicago.

That said, if Hendrickson is available in any capacity, the Bears are likely to be interested in someone who could provide the upgrade Chicago's defense needs.

Hendrickson had a down season in 2025, but that was due to injury and he remains one of the better edge rushers in the NFL when healthy. From 2023 through 2024, nobody in the NFL had more sacks than Hendrickson's 35 in that span.

Myers would check both of the boxes the Bears need on the interior. He has posted 14.5 sacks combined the past two seasons and has finished with a Pro Football Focus run-defense grade of 64.3 or higher in four of the last five years.

We would suspect the Broncos will try hard to re-sign such an important piece of their defense, but if he's able to hit the open market, we'd bet the Bears will be interested in trying to sign Franklin-Myers.

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