Jonathan Greenard
Getty
Jonathan Greenard of the Minnesota Vikings.
More than a couple of prominent NFL teams need an edge-rusher, yet the Minnesota Vikings have been unable to move Jonathan Greenard despite his request for a raise and entrance to the trade block weeks ago — all of which may equal an opportunity for the Chicago Bears if they decide to strike.
Minnesota is hunting a Day 2 draft pick in return for Greenard, and Chicago owns three of them: Nos. 57 and 60 in Round 2 and No. 89 in Round 3.
One reason the market may be slow for Greenard — who earned Pro Bowl honors in 2024 and had solid advanced metrics last season (31st out of 115 qualifying players at the position), despite missing five games and seeing a significant dip in traditional production — is that he wants a pay bump from the four-year, $76 million deal he’s on now (two seasons remaining) to something closer to the $30 million annually that Jaelan Phillips just got from the Carolina Panthers.
Offering up a second-round asset, plus taking on Greenard’s current money and adding both years and annual salary to it, renders considerably more risk and less potential reward to the transaction.
But there could be a middle ground Chicago can reach with both the Vikings and Greenard, in which the Bears send the No. 89 selection to Minnesota and up Greenard’s pay to a degree, though not to the level he is reportedly demanding.
Jonathan Greenard Currently Costs Less Than Half of NFL’s Top-Paid Pass-Rushers
Jonathan Greenard edge rusher Minnesota Vikings
GettyEdge-rusher Jonathan Greenard of the Minnesota Vikings.
If the Bears trade for Greenard’s contract with a post-June 1 designation, they will owe him $18.85 million and $19 million the next two seasons, respectively.
Greenard will play in 2026 at 29 years old, but all things considered that’s a pretty solid annual average salary figure for an above-average pass-rusher after Micah Parsons just reset the market at $46.5 million per campaign.
If Chicago trades for Greenard, the team could extend his contract by a year or two, which would allow the Bears to restructure his salary cap hits and convert much of his pay in 2025 into a signing bonus that would not count against the cap.
That pathway creates more money across more years for Greenard, while allowing Chicago to absorb an expensive player despite its low amount of cap space.
Bears Need to Get Better on D-Line if They Hope to Continue NFC Ascent
Dayo Odeyingbo
GettyDefensive end Dayo Odeyingbo of the Chicago Bears.
Chicago has needed another pass-rusher since before last season. The Bears have added talent to the second and third levels of the defense this spring, but have yet to address an anemic pass rush that produced 35 total sacks in 2025 and was bottom five in pass rush win rate and quick pressures.
“The pass rush has been their biggest question on defense the last few years,” a rival team executive told The Athletic’s Mike Sando of the Chicago defense. “They need to improve the D-line, but they couldn’t really do it because they are locked into guys with guaranteed money. They didn’t really address their biggest defensive need.”
The Bears’ best avenues to addressing that critical weakness this offseason are its draft picks, namely those at No. 25 in Round 1 and its two second-rounders. But the team isn’t going to get a premier player at the position that late in the proceedings, and it has other holes to fill.
Thus, if Chicago could flip its third-round pick for Greenard, add a year to his deal and restructure the contract to fit into its minimal cap space in 2026, that could be a solve that allows the defense to level up immediately.