Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas Raiders
Getty
Defensive end Maxx Crosby, formerly of the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Chicago Bears entered the offseason coming off their best campaign in 15 years with a couple of obvious flaws and expectations from fans that the franchise would make a splashy move or two to address them in pursuit of its first Super Bowl appearance in more than four decades.
Trade rumors floating around the NFL matched those expectations, as several prominent analysts like Jeremy Fowler of ESPN took the time to author speculative trade proposals that saw Chicago making a blockbuster trade for former Las Vegas Raiders pass-rusher Maxx Crosby.
In the end, the Baltimore Ravens nabbed Crosby for the price of two first-round picks (2026, 2027), outbidding the Dallas Cowboys‘ offer of the No. 12 pick in this year’s draft and a second-rounder next year.
It was Fowler on Sunday, March 8 who detailed exactly why the Bears missed out on Crosby in the aftermath of the offseason’s biggest, and potentially most consequential, trade.
“The Chicago Bears monitored the situation, but the sense was they weren’t major players in the end,” Fowler wrote.
Bears Acquired Draft Capital in DJ Moore Trade That Could Have Factored Into Maxx Crosby Negotiations
DJ Moore of the Chicago Bears.
GettyFormer Chicago Bears wide receiver DJ Moore.
In other words, Chicago decided that the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze on Crosby because of the draft capital his acquisition ultimately demanded.
It is something of an interesting conclusion by the Bears, given that the team flipped wide receiver DJ Moore and a fifth-rounder to the Buffalo Bills last week for the No. 60 overall pick in the second round. That positions Chicago with three selections between pick Nos. 25 and 60, as well as another selection in Round 3 at No. 89 overall.
The pass rush was the team’s greatest weakness last season, and the defensive line was specifically inept in that regard. The defense as a whole finished in the bottom five in the league in pass rush win rate and quick pressures, which are achieved within 2.5 seconds of the snap.
Bears Have Assumed Measured, Patient Approach to Player Acquisition After Best Season in Years
Kevin Byard
GettySafety Kevin Byard III of the Chicago Bears.
However, Courtney Cronin of ESPN had her finger on the pulse of the situation in the days before Crosby’s move, as she noted that the Bears did not view themselves as merely one elite edge-rusher away from Super Bowl contention.
“[Is Crosby] something to pay attention to? Yes. Something that seems imminent or likely? I don’t think so, for a number of reasons,” Cronin said February 19. “I don’t know if the Bears view themselves as, ‘We are just one elite pass-rusher away from winning a Super Bowl.'”
The Bears are not going to land one of the top three edge-rushers in this year’s draft class — Arvell Reese of Ohio State, David Bailey of Texas Tech or Rueben Bain Jr. of Miami — all of whom ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. projects will go inside the top 10 in his latest mock draft.
Analyst like Kiper most commonly project Chicago will take a defensive tackle with the 25th selection and then examine potential needs at edge-rusher, safety and offensive tackle with its two picks near the end of Round 2. A safety could also be in play in Round 1, depending on the futures of Jaquan Brisker and Kevin Byard III.
The Bears opted not to take a big swing on Tyler Linderbaum, who is on track to sign the biggest contract for a center in league history. Instead, Chicago traded a fifth-round pick to the New England Patriots for Garrett Bradbury.
Thus, it now appears possible, if not likely, that the Bears won’t go big at any single position in free agency or the draft, but will instead exercise patience and make measured moves to improve incrementally around a quality core of young skill players on offense currently on rookie-scale deals.