Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles has been aggressive about beefing up his team's pass rush, one of its critical needs, within the last year. On Friday, he made another move to do that just. Poles and Chicago traded a 2025 sixth-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for edge rusher Darrell Taylor, the team announced.
Taylor, who is 27 years old, was a 2020 second-round pick of Seattle's out of Tennessee, and he totaled 21.5 sacks in three NFL seasons with the Seahawks, including a career-high 9.5 in 2022. The Bears ranked 31st out of 32 NFL teams last season in sacks with 30, only three more than the NFL-worst Carolina Panthers. Chicago's 31.2% quarterback pressure rate was the third-worst in the NFL in 2023, ahead of only the Washington Commanders (30.0%) and the Panthers (29.4%).
On the latest episode of "Hard Knocks," Poles opened up about attempting to trade for four-time Pro Bowl edge Matt Judon, but he ultimately decided not to go through with the deal because terms weren't agreed upon for an immediate extension. Judon demanded a trade from the New England Patriots because he was unhappy with entering the final year of his contract in 2024 without long-term security. Judon ended up being dealt to the Atlanta Falcons.
However, Poles did pull off a midseason trade for Commanders edge rusher Montez Sweat by sending a second-round pick to Washington, and then Poles extended him on a four-year, $98 million contract mere days after the deal. Sweat ended up leading Chicago with 6.0 sacks last season and amassed a season total of 12.5, which served as a career-high and helped him earn the first Pro Bowl selection of his career at age 27. Now, Taylor will team up with Sweat to help beef up Chicago's pass rush even more entering 2024.
