Bears expected to sign former edge rusher for $65 million before…

The Chicago Bears are in familiar territory again in 2024 with a lingering need for additional pass-rushing depth on their defensive line, and ESPN’s Bill Barnwell predicts a “logical” move for them could be adding former Miami Dolphins starter Emmanuel Ogbah to an ultra-affordable deal for the new season.

Ogbah has notched 42.5 sacks and 268 total tackles over his eight-year NFL career and won a Super Bowl championship with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019. He also had back-to-back nine-sack seasons for the Dolphins in 2020 and 2021, earning him a four-year, $65 million contract extension from Miami that included $32 million guaranteed.

Since then, though, the 30-year-old Ogbah’s star power has dwindled. He recorded just one sack over nine games in 2022 before suffering a season-ending triceps injury. And while he bounced back for 5.5 sacks in 2023, the Dolphins elected to move on from him and cut his contract this offseason to save roughly $13.6 million against the salary cap.

Still, Ogbah could have value to a Bears defense that already has a star in Montez Sweat and is looking for more of a rotational addition than an every-down defensive end.

“Those numbers aren’t going to project to All-Pro production over a full workload — Ogbah is probably best spotted in a situational role at this point of his career — but the Bears need bodies in their edge rotation,” Barnwell wrote on May 14. “Getting 300 snaps of solid pass-rushing performance from Ogbah for $2 million or so would be a good deal for GM Ryan Poles.”

Would Bears Prefer to Sign Emmanuel Ogbah or Bring Back Yannick Ngakoue?

Barnwell is not the only one who thinks the Bears could consider signing Ogbah. Former Bears scout Greg Gabriel also floated the possibility in a recent article for Windy City Gridiron, in which he stressed the need for the Bears to sign another veteran defensive end to address their “glaring weakness” opposite Sweat.

“Ogbah is 30 years old, and because of what happened in Miami, it may not be what the Bears are looking for, but I wouldn’t totally count him out,” Gabriel wrote.

That said, Gabriel still thinks there is a chance the Bears could explore a reunion with Yannick Ngakoue in 2024. Ngakoue finished with fewer than eight sacks for the first time in his career with Chicago in 2023 and had his season cut short in December when he broke his ankle, but he seemed to start turning things around once Sweat arrived.

In five games opposite Sweat, Ngakoue notched two sacks, two tackles for loss, nine quarterback hurries and four defensive stops for the Bears. The team would need to feel good about Ngakoue’s recovery before giving him serious signing consideration, but his familiarity with Matt Eberflus’ defense could give him an edge over outside veterans.