Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles loves the trade deadline. Let’s hope for his sake this year’s move goes better than 2022’s.
Less than four hours before Tuesday’s trade deadline, Poles dealt a 2024 second-round pick to the Washington Commanders. In return, the Bears acquired defensive end Montez Sweat, a dependable pass rusher on an expiring contract.
The move came a year after Poles surrendered a second-round pick to land Chase Claypool — which was a bad deal at the time and a horrendous one in retrospect. (Claypool isn’t even on the team anymore.)
Who won the trade? Read on for our Sweat trade grades.
Grading the Montez Sweat Trade
Chicago Bears
The only possible way this makes sense is if the Bears have an ironclad plan to keep Sweat in the fold beyond the 2023 season.
As it stands, Sweat has nine games left on the fifth-year option of his rookie deal. The Bears inherit the remaining $6 million or so on Sweat’s contract this year but then could lose him for nothing but a 2025 compensatory pick after that.
MORE: 2023 NFL Trade Deadline Tracker
The best-case scenario for Chicago — which before the deal had $8.9 million in cap space this year but an estimated $90 million or so next — is that comp pick is a third-rounder.
But this deal suggests the Bears are prepared to use the franchise tag on Sweat in 2024 if they must. The price tag? An estimated $20.5 million.
That’s a lot of cheddar for a player who has never had more than nine sacks in a season (although he does have 6.5 this year).
The #Commanders are trading star pass rusher Montez Sweat to the #Bears in exchange for a 2024 second-round pick, per @AdamSchefter. 👀
A MASSIVE boost to Chicago’s front seven. 🔥
pic.twitter.com/cyfY1dAjAq— Pro Football Network (@PFN365)
Grade: B-
Washington Commanders
The only person in Washington who doesn’t benefit from this trade is Ron Rivera. But he might be out of a job in a couple of months anyway.
The Commanders are 3-5 at the midway point of the season and still just a game out of the seventh seed in the NFC. But they need a hard reset — and seem to understand that.
Sweat and Chase Young both were being shopped, and the Commanders were able to get the former’s salary off their books and get a better (and more immediate) pick than if they had let Sweat play out the string and let him walk in free agency.
One final thought, however: It’s much easier to get rid of problems than it is to find solutions. The hard work for whoever it’ll be making the decisions in D.C. next year begins soon.
Grade: A
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