Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds
Credit Chicago Bears 

Monsters, Inc.

Rebuilt Defense Highlighted by Standout Linebacker Unit

By Jay Navrotski

Sunday, June 25, 2023

Historically, few franchises parallel the Bears' ability to Build 'Backers Better and it appears Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus are prepared to carry the torch with the construction of this year's corps. 

In case you missed it, recently the Bears' fresh linebacking group was ranked second-best in the NFL by PFF. Having a superior linebacking unit is nothing new to fans of a club dubbed "The Monsters of the Midway" so it should come as no surprise that the new GM and Head Coach put emphasis on the position this offseason. Still though, at the onset of this offseason, questions remained about how effective a new GM would be in building a roster, and specifically a defense, worthy of the Monsters mantle. After failing to make a deal with Roquan Smith last season, leading to his trade to the Baltimore Ravens, a certain reluctance around the vision of Ryan Poles started to form. The production of Jack Sanborn and Smith's $100m price tag in Baltimore provided a little bit of an exhale for hesitant fans.

Chicago Bears linebacker Jack Sanborn (57) tackles Green Bay Packers running back AJ Dillon (28) in the fourth quarter of a game at Soldier Field in Chicago on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022.

Chris Sweda, Chicago Tribune

The linebacker position, and the Bears' defensive roster overall, has experienced a significant amount of turnover the last two offeseasons.  Second-year LB Jack Sanborn represents the one hold-over from last season, in which the rookie made an immediate and significant impact filling the hole left by Roquan Smith's departure. Sanborn, a Lake Zurich native and former Wisconsin Badger, played in 14 games (largely at Special Teams) and started at MLB in six of those games prior to a season-ending ankle injury in week 15 against Philadelphia. Posting 64 tackles, and two sacks, Sanborn's playmaking breathed a little optimism into the fan base for a future without the former first-round pick in Smith. 

The Jack Sanborn numbers that Bears fans should most appreciate are not exclusively tied to any sort of production, instead the faithful should be focused on Sanborn's salary breakdown paired with what he was able to do in a limited capacity last season. Sanborn is under contract through the 2024 season at an average per year of just over $855,000; contrast this with the Ravens' tab for Smith, which is an average per year of $20,000,000.

"But what about the loss of production?" Let's take a look at the numbers. In 17 starts last season, Roquan Smith averaged 9.94 tackles per game, had .59 pressures (QB hits, knockdowns, and sacks) per game and posted a 4.5% missed tackle rate. In five complete starts last season, Sanborn averaged 10.8 tackles, .6 pressures, and an identical missed tackle rate of 4.5%. 

These numbers seem as though they could be a little misleading, so I decided to take a look at per-defensive-snap figures as well. Granted, due to injury and starting the season on Special Teams, Sanborn has a much smaller sample size (331 defensive snaps to Smith's 1039) the numbers still bode well for those of us looking to confirm our biases. In those 1039 snaps, Roquan Smith had 169 tackles and 10 pressures for an average of .16 tackles and .0096 pressures per play. Sanborn, by comparison, had 61 tackles and three pressures to produce averages of .18 and .0091 respectively. Of note, Sanborn will shift to SLB due to the arrival of some big names in Free Agency. What cannot be overlooked with regard to Smith's departure and Sanborn's production is the cost-savings that allowed the Bears to make two significant upgrades elsewhere at the position. 

Chicago Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds puts on his helmet during the team's OTA practice on May 23 in Lake Forest. (Nam Y. Huh/AP)

Poles made quick work of shoring up the position group by acquiring Pro Bowler Tremaine Edmunds, who spent five seasons with the Buffalo Bills, as soon as Free Agency opened.  Edmunds, recently named the third-best linebacker in the league as ranked by executives, players, scouts, and coaches, will step into the role of MLB coming off a season in which he produced 102 tackles, and 3 pressures in 13 games.

Taken 16th overall out of Virginia Tech in the 2018 NFL draft, Edmunds has started every game he's been available in Buffalo (74), missing a total of seven games across five seasons. Tallying upwards of 100 tackles each season, and 6.5 career sacks, Edmunds' production is nothing short of consistent, and consistency is what is needed at the center of rebuilt defense. 

In March, Edmunds signed a 4-year deal with the Bears for $72 million ($50 million guaranteed) for an average annual value of $18 million. The structure of the contract is a bit front-loaded as Edmunds will haul $22 million in year one and $18 million in year four. Understandably, for many Bears fans "all roads lead to Roquan," so what do these two contracts mean?  The short answer is the Bears will save $22 million between 2026 and 2027 by paying the then 28-year old Edmunds $18 million, while Baltimore will still owe 29-year old Smith two years and $40 million. Smith's contract is also front-loaded, he will be making $27 million in year one. In trading Roquan Smith, Ryan Poles set the organization up to pay two standout linebackers for the price of one, equipping the front seven with two-time Pro Bowler Edmunds and a 2022 All-Pro. Enter T.J. Edwards.

Chicago Bears linebacker T.J. Edwards stretches before the team's OTA practice. (Chicago Bears)

Poles' commitment to a strong defense wasn't limited to the signing of Tremaine Edmunds; at the beginning of the Free Agency window, it was announced that the Bears had agreed to terms with former Philadelphia linebacker T.J. Edwards. Edwards, who played collegiately at Wisconsin and is a native of Lake Villa, Illinois, achieved the lifelong dream of joining the Bears when he signed a 3-year, $19.5 million ($7.9 million guaranteed) contract in March.

In his 2022 campaign, one that saw his team playing for the Lombardi trophy, Edwards tallied a career-best 159 tackles and 9 QB pressures to include two sacks. The last two seasons, Edwards' most productive in which he made 31 starts, produced averages of 144.5 tackles and 5.5 pressures. 

Stats-wise, Edwards represents a significant upgrade to the WLB position. Chicago's 2022 WLB, Nicholas Morrow, certainly had an effective effort himself. In his single season with the club, Morrow amassed 116 combined tackles. While that figure is nothing to balk at, the 37% increase to Edwards' number of tackles should have Bears fans salivating. 

The salary breakdown for Edwards provides the 27-year old with $8 million this season, and the remaining two at a cost of $7million and $6.5 million respectively.  The price versus production for the fifth-year pro bodes well for the gamble Poles took in choosing to offload Roquan Smith last season. 

The offseason additions at linebacker answered many lingering questions about what the Bears were going to do to address a dismal defensive effort in 2022, especially after trading away their centerpiece on that side of the ball. It remains to be seen what this rebuilt defense can do under Head Coach Matt Eberflus and Defensive Coordinator Alan Williams, but the fanbase should relish the hype around these linebackers heading into the 2023 season. Thanks to the vision of Ryan Poles, the national media once again believes in Monsters. You should too.