NFL Rumors: Bears Will 'Make an Effort' to Get Montez Sweat Contract Extension Done

After pulling off a surprise trade to acquire Montez Sweat from the Washington Commanders on Tuesday, the Chicago Bears are now tasked with trying to sign the 27-year-old to a new contract.

Per ESPN's Dan Graziano, the Bears "will at least make an effort" to sign Sweat to a long-term deal before the end of this season.

Chicago sent a 2024 second-round draft pick to the Commanders for Sweat.

The move was a surprise because the Bears don't fit the bill of a team that would normally acquire a player in the final season of his contract. Their 2-6 record is tied with the New York Giants and New England Patriots for the third-worst mark in the NFL after Week 8.

This trade also has some echoes of the deal Chicago general manager Ryan Poles made prior to last year's deadline that turned into a huge loss for the team. He sent a second-round draft pick to the Pittsburgh Steelers for Chase Claypool.

The pick wound up being No. 32 overall and the Steelers used it to select cornerback Joey Porter Jr. who is having a phenomenal rookie season. Claypool only played 10 games for the Bears before getting traded to the Miami Dolphins on Oct. 6.

Despite those parallels, Sweat is much better at his job than Claypool was when he joined the Bears. He has 85 quarterback hits, 47 tackles for loss and 35.5 sacks in 67 career games.

Sweat's sack total this season (6.5) is almost as many as the entire Bears team has (10). No other team in the league has fewer than 15 sacks this season.

Given what the Bears traded to acquire Sweat, he has a lot of leverage over the team to secure a lucrative contract. He figured to cash in anyway given his consistent level of production since being a first-round draft pick in 2019, but this trade could add even more money to whatever a potential offer is going to look like when it comes.