The Bears signed Johnson on July 25 to work as a depth piece in the linebackers room. The Steelers selected Johnson in the fourth round of the 2021 draft, but Pittsburgh waived him after his rookie season. Last year, Johnson spent time on the Texans and 49ers practice squads.

Taylor was an Eagles third-round draft pick in 2020. He played in 21 games, including seven starts between the 2020 and 2021 seasons, but had his development stalled by multiple injuries. Taylor spent 2022 on the Eagles practice squad.

Taylor is likely a fringe candidate to make the Bears roster out of camp. The linebacker unit includes Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Walker, Jack Sanborn, Noah Sewell, Dylan Cole, Micah Baskerville, Mykal Walker, DeMarquis Gates, Barrington Wade and now Taylor.

The Bears will cut their roster down from 91 players to 53 players on Aug. 29.

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“I talked to Getsy probably four days a week for like two months,” Lewis said. “Because I was just at the crib trying to figure out what I want to do.”

Tonyan did his part to try to convince Lewis to come to Chicago, as well. Tonyan said he owes everything he knows about playing tight end to Lewis, so he knows first-hand the impact he can make as a veteran leader. At the same time, Tonyan knows that entering his 18th year in the league, Lewis isn’t just looking for a paycheck. Lewis is looking for a place that’s a good fit and a place where he can make an impact.

“My words to him were just, with the system and who he’s around and who’s in this building, he’s definitely not wasting his time with where this program and where this team is going,” Tonyan said.

According to Tonyan, Lewis didn’t need too much convincing once Tonyan had stated his case.

“One thing that kept coming up was just: young, hungry, active, the culture, you’re gonna love it here, the building,” Lewis said about the pitches from Tonyan and Getsy. “And, yeah, here we are.

“Obviously Luke is somebody I got to know in Green Bay and really respect him and his coaching style and always treated me like a man and we respect each other that way and Bobby is my guy, he’s like an extension of me, so if he’s saying something, I believe it.”

So when Tonyan finally got word that Lewis had signed on to join the Bears, his first emotions weren’t feelings of excitement or joy, they were feelings of accomplishment.

“I did my job.”

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The word on Ngakoue is that although he’s an incredibly talented pass rusher, his run defense leaves something to be desired. If you’re into this sort of thing, from 2020-2022, PFF has graded Ngakoue’s pass rush between 56.9 and 76.2. He topped out at a 90.5 grade in 2017. From 2019-2022, PFF graded Ngakoue’s run defense between 28.2 and 45.8. The 28.2 was his worst grade, and it came in 2021.

Ngakoue has consistently played between 70% – 80% of a defense’s snaps, but with a rep like that against the run, some have questioned whether he might be better suited as a situational player, when offenses are backed up in obvious passing downs. The Bears don’t buy that and Matt Eberflus said Ngakoue will continue to be a three-down defensive end in Chicago. Further, Bears coaches believe the criticism of Ngakoue’s run defense is overblown.

“He’ll be just fine,” said defensive coordinator Alan Williams. “He can choke a guy out. Believe me about that. He can choke a guy out.

“We are going to stop the run and we are going to earn the right to rush the passer. He’ll be part of that too. The mentality is we stop the run. He’ll be just fine. I’ve watched the tape, and he’ll choke a guy out too.”

The Bears will need Ngakoue to play well against the run, considering it was one of their biggest deficiencies last season. In 2022, the Bears surrendered the most rushing touchdowns in the NFL (31), the most rushing first downs (151), the second-most rushing yards (2,674) and tied for the sixth-worst yards per carry average (4.9).

It’s not surprising that after seeing those numbers, some are focused on how Ngakoue can help or hurt in that area. But Ngakoue has a message for those who still doubt his run-stopping prowess.

“They’ll see this year.”

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On Saturday, Ryan Poles spoke about the signing for the first time, and he was frank when explaining why he made the move to bring in an extra pass rusher now. Poles said it was a mix of realizing the Bears defensive line could use a boost at the edges after seven training camp practices, and knowing that adding a player of Ngakoue’s caliber would elevate the defense overall, regardless of any perceived deficiencies.

Further, the Bears secondary has appeared to be a team strength in the early goings of the summer. By adding Ngakoue, the Bears can play up to that strength on the back end of the defense.

“You want to be able to shorten that time to get the ball out,” Poles said. “You want your secondary– which I see right now– being really good in coverage, which is going to buy the guys up front time to get home.That was an emphasis that (head coach Matt Eberflus) and I had, was to get more pressure on the quarterback and create turnovers.”

As for why the Bears didn’t make the move earlier, Poles said this was a deal that simply needed more time.

“There’s a level of patience that you’ve gotta have to be a sound decision-maker… There’s time we’re gonna hit the gas and sometimes you wanna hit the brake. This one we wanted to be patient and make sure both sides are comfortable with what was going on.”

Ngakoue immediately becomes the top pass rusher on the Bears defensive line and joins fellow 2023 free agent signees DeMarcus Walker and Rasheem Green. In addition, the Bears are looking for Trevis Gipson, Dominique Robinson and Terrell Lewis to take the next step in their development along the edges.

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A move like this wasn’t unexpected. The Bears were open about their interest in adding free agents throughout the summer, including at defensive end where it seemed they could use a boost. The Bears just needed to make sure they did all their homework first.

“We had some intel on him,” Eberflus said. “Obviously what kind of teammate he is. What kind of person he is. What kind of worker he is. And he checked all the boxes there for us. He’s gonna be a good addition.”

Eberflus considers Rod Marinelli to be one of his biggest influences as a head coach from their time working together with the Dallas Cowboys. Marinelli was Ngakoue’s coach for one season in Las Vegas, and Eberflus asked Marinelli about Ngakoue. Current Bears defensive line coach Travis Smith was an assistant defensive line coach for Ngakoue during his one season for the Raiders, too. Of course, Eberflus asked Smith for whatever input he had, as well.

Each guy gave feedback that made Eberflus and GM Ryan Poles comfortable enough to offer Ngakoue a reported one-year, $10.5 million deal.

“The way he practices, I guess he’s full tilt when he practices,” Eberflus said. “He keeps himself in great shape. He’s very mindful of his body and how he stays in great shape to be able to go hard like that.

“To be really good and effective in pass rushing, you’ve got to bring it and you’ve got to bring it every single down. You can’t take a play off and that takes being in great shape, and you’ve got to have that mentality.”

Eberflus doesn’t have any first-hand knowledge of what Ngakoue’s like as a player, so after Ngakoue finishes his ramp-up periodー the time when the Bears slowly increase a player’s reps if they haven’t played ball in awhileー he’s looking to confirm that Ngakoue will fit into his demanding H.I.T.S. program.

“We have standards here of how we operate, how we hustle, how we finish, how we play. That’s our style, right? And the style’s not just for the game, it’s for the practice too. So we want to see him buy into that and really take that on and have ownership of that.”

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“A guy that was a great power rusher,” Ngakoue said. “A guy that had great speed off the edge.”

Ngakoue has just one degree of separation from Peppers via longtime NFL coach Rod Marinelli. Ngakoue played under Marinelli when Marinelli was the Raiders defensive line coach in 2021. Peppers played under Marinelli when Marinelli was the Bears assistant head coach and defensive coordinator from 2010-2012.

Peppers’ stop in Chicago was short but he made a big impact in his time here. He made the Pro Bowl in three of his four seasons with the team, and was an All-Pro twice. Peppers notched 37.5 of his 159.5 career sacks with the Bears, and added 10 forced fumbles and seven fumble recoveries. He’s a surefire Hall of Famer, and apparently Marinelli sees a lot of Peppers in Ngakoue.

“He used to tell me we have a lot of the same attributes and I just have to tap into that skillset and just show the world.”

Ngakoue has a ways to go to match Peppers’ output, but there’s no denying he’s highly talented and remarkably consistent. If he can tap into that Peppers skillset even more, he’ll go a long way towards improving the entire Bears defense, single handedly.

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On Monday, the Bears were on the hot seat, and Matt Verderame broke down the flimsy defensive line.

“[DeMarcus] Walker and [Rasheem] Green have had moderate success at times across different stops, but neither are impact players on a week-to-week basis,” Verderame wrote. “Furthermore, there’s no interior presence who will command consistent double-teams, whether it be Andrew Billings or Justin Jones.”

An obvious problem is the Bears’ pass-rush, which General Manager Ryan Poles was unable to address in the draft.

“We’re working on it,” Poles said when asked if he would sign a veteran edge rusher. “We don’t stop working and looking at different avenues to bring players in. There are some options, potentially trade options. There’s also some guys on the street still that could potentially come in and help us. We’re kind of looking at everything right now.”

The Bears will have to wait until next offseason to make a splash in that department, but they could keep themselves afloat by signing a quality veteran like Yannick Ngajoue or Justin Houston before the season starts.

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There are legitimate questions as to whether Floyd and the Bears would have been a good fit, but it’s no secret that the Bears are monitoring the market and are open to adding another piece to their pass rush before training camp begins in late July.

The Bears made 10 selections in the draft, and loaded up at defensive tackles with three picks at the position. Accordingly, that’s led many to believe DE will be a position the team addresses in the later waves of free agency. However, more than a month after the draft, the market has hardly moved. Outside of the Floyd deal, Poona Ford also signed a deal with the Bills, the Seahawks brought in Mario Edwards Jr. and the Commanders traded for Za’Darius Smith. That’s been about it.

That means there are still plenty of players available for the Bears to sign now. Of course DEs on other teams will be cut now that the draft is in the rear view mirror. For now, though, let’s focus on players who are currently on the market, and who could sign with the Bears when free agency heats up again. Note, all the ages listed are how old a player will be when the regular season kicks off.

DAWUANE SMOOT – 28 years old

Smoot is coming off a torn achilles injury, so the medicals might dissuade the Bears from signing him. However, if the medicals are all good Smoot could be an interesting option. Smoot was an ascending player for the Jaguars before he started ceding snaps to other players in 2022. However, Smoot still managed to produce while playing less. He recorded five sacks while only playing 44% of the team’s snaps last year. Smoot has 22.5 career sacks, 27 TFL, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries since joining the league in 2017. But things really didn’t start clicking for Smoot until 2019.

FRANK CLARK – 30 years old

Ryan Poles knows exactly what he’s going to get in Clark from watching him in Kansas City from 2019-2021. It just so happens that Clark put together three Pro Bowl campaigns during that stretch. That familiarity could be the key in getting a free agent deal done as OTAs approach. Clark is still a productive player, too. Last season, his 56 total pressures tied for 20th-most in the NFL among edge players per PFF. Clark has 58.5 career sacks, 67 TFL, 14 forced fumbles and seven fumble recoveries in eight seasons.

JUSTIN HOUSTON – 34 years old

Houston has two big connections to the Bears. First, he crossed paths with Poles in KC from 2011-2018. Then Houston went to Indianapolis where he played really well in Matt Eberflus’ defense in 2019 and 2020. Houston’s 22 sacks days are likely well behind him, but he proved he still has something left in the tank last year when he took a 20.1% pass rush win rate (17th-best in NFL among edge players per PFF) and notched 9.5 sacks in Baltimore, despite playing a career-low 44% of his team’s snaps. That could be exactly what the team is looking for, as they continue to develop their younger players. Houston has 111.5 career sacks, 130 TFL, 19 forced fumbles and 14 fumble recoveries in 12 years.

YANNICK NGAKOUE – 28 years old

Ngakoue recently said he’s looking for two things: a multi-year contract, and a team that’s ready to contend or has shown signs it’s on the up and up. Both of those criteria could disqualify the Bears. Poles has shown he’s going to be disciplined when signing players to long-term deals, reserving those types of contracts for players he’s convicted can be cornerstone players. Considering Ngakoue has played for five teams in seven seasons, he may not fit that bill. Of course, Ngakoue could see the Bears’ 3-14 record last season, see a QB who needs to improve in the passing attack in Justin Fields and pass himself. If things do come together though, the Bears would get an instant boost to their pass rush. In just seven seasons, Ngakoue has 65 sacks and 65 TFL. He’s had at least eight sacks every year. Most importantly, he’s great at creating takeaways. Ngakoue already has an incredible 21 forced fumbles to his name, which is the fifth-most in the NFL since he came into the league in 2016.

CARLOS DUNLAP – 34 years old

Dunlap’s career is winding down, so he may not want to play on a rebuilding team like the Bears, but if he doesn’t get interest elsewhere the Bears may want to bring him in. Dunlap finally got a Super Bowl ring with the Chiefs last season, so Poles can call up his buddies in KC to get some info on what he brought to the locker room. Last year, Dunlap had four sacks, six TFL and one forced fumble while playing 50% of KC’s snaps. He also had 17 stops in the run game, per PFF, which was tied for 30th in the league among edge players. Over his 13 year career he has 100 sacks, 123 TFL, 22 forced fumbles and nine fumble recoveries.

MELVIN INGRAM – 34 years old

Ingram is another older player, so like Dunlap he may prefer to chase a ring on another team. After lackluster seasons in 2020 and 2021 it looked like Ingram might be done, but he enjoyed a resurgence with the Ravens last season. In 11 seasons he has 57 sacks, 81 TFL, 16 forced fumbles and nine fumble recoveries.

ROBERT QUINN – 33 years old

Everyone in the Bears locker room loves Robert Quinn. He brought tangible veteran leadership to the team, so for that reason alone the Bears might want to bring him back. However, Quinn was “highly upset” when he was traded last year, so he may not want to return. In 2021, Quinn set a Bears record with 18.5 sacks, but his production dropped sharply last year. He only managed one sack in 13 games.

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Montgomery signed with the Detroit Lions and will stay in the NFC North to play the Bears twice a year.

But there was another NFC North team in the mix for Montgomery’s service.

“The Bears, the Detroit Lions (where he landed) and Minnesota Vikings were all in the mix,” Brad Biggs wrote in a mailbag for the Chicago Tribune.

Biggs notes the Lions’ deal offered more guaranteed money than the Bears, specifically guaranteed money beyond the first year of the deal.

General manager Ryan Poles believes Montgomery will have extra motivation heading into next season. 

“He definitely is going to run with a chip on his shoulder, so we’ll be ready for that,” Poles said.

Poles also noted that players have choices and Montgomery made his, and clearly he had a lot of choices within the division alone.

But Poles doesn’t necessarily have any regrets about his attempt to re-sign Montgomery.

“I thought we communicated well, I thought we negotiated well,” Poles said. “At the same time, you don’t always know what’s going on in the background, but I thought we did a good job, we were transparent, we were organized and it just, it didn’t happen.”

Montgomery spent four seasons in Chicago, racking up over 3,600 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns. He became a fan-favorite during his time, known for his violent and persistent rushing style. During his final season in college, he led the NCAA in broken tackles. 

The Bears reacted quickly and signed Travis Homer. Homer is a veteran backup who spent the last four seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. 

Then a couple of days later the Bears signed D’Onta Foreman as well. Foreman took over Christian McCaffrey’s post when the Panthers dealt him to the San Francisco 49ers in the middle of last season. 

Throughout last season, Foreman rushed for 914 yards and four touchdowns, despite playing in 35 percent of offensive snaps over the season. Foreman said he plans to vie for the starting running back spot with the Bears. 

Foreman will likely split time with Khalil Herbert, who posted an outstanding sophomore season alongside Montgomery last year. Trestan Ebner is also in the Bears’ running back room. 

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Per Spotrac, the Bears had about $100 million before the trade. Moore’s contract brings that number down to a hair just over $75 million.

That seems like a big drop off, but the Bears still have the most salary cap space in the NFL by a wide margin. The Falcons come in at second with nearly $64 million, per Spotrac. In fact, the Bears still have the wiggle room to sign one or two marquee free agents like Orlando Brown Jr. or Javon Hargrave if they want to put a lot of their money to work now.

And general manager Ryan Poles will put the cap space to good use. The Bears have a lot of holes on their roster to fill. Both lines, offense and defense. The Bears need a pass rusher. They need a linebacker.

Are they going to re-sign David Montgomery? Will they add another wide receiver?

The Bears have been tied to mainly players in the trenches. San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey is a name commonly tied to the Bears. Some are dreaming of Orlando Brown Jr.

Indianapolis Colts linebacker Bobby Okereke reuniting with head coach Matt Eberflus is another name tied to the Bears. And Chicago has been linked to all the defensive lineman on the market.

NFL teams can begin negotiating with free agents on Monday, but can’t officially sign them to deals until Wednesday at 3 p.m. when the new league year begins.  

We will keep track of all the signings below, as they happen. Book mark this page and refresh.

SIGNED

DE DeMarcus Walker – 3 years

The Bears added Tennessee Titans defensive end DeMarcus Walker, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. Walker had a breakout season in 2022, recording seven sacks.

LB Tremaine Edmunds – 4 years

The Bears made another big splash at linebacker, signing former Buffalo Bill Tremaine Edmunds per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. It’s a four-year deal for $72 million, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

It also is the largest four-year deal for an inside linebacker in the NFL.

Click here for more details on Edmunds’ signing.

OG Nate Davis – 3 years

The Chicago Bears have bolstered their offensive line signing former Tennessee Titans guard Nate Davis to a three-year deal, via NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. It’s a three-year, $30 million deal.

LB T.J. Edwards – 3 years

The Bears agreed to terms with Philadelphia Eagles linebacker T.J. Edwards on a three-year deal, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. He’ll reportedly get $19.5 million over the course of the contract.

Does this mean the Okereke rumors are dead? Edwards played MLB in Philly, so maybe not.

And a fun fact, Edwards was a teammate of Jack Sanborn at Wisconsin.

Click here for more details on Edwards’ signing.

NBC Sports Chicago talked to Edwards at the Super Bowl about quarterback Justin Fields, whom he called a “special player.”

“The one thing that surprised me a bit – obviously, he’s as fast as anything – but he’s a lot bigger than people think as well,” Edwards also said. “A guy that big who can move like that is a tough task for a defense. He definitely creates a little headache for you.”

RB Travis Homer – 2 years

The Bears agreed to terms with running back Travis Homer, former running back for the Seattle Seahawks. The deal is reportedly two years, worth $4.5 million. 

News dropped of veteran, starting running back, David Montgomery, opting to sign with the Detroit Lions to the tune of a three-year deal worth $18 million. Shortly after, reports showed the Bears signed Homer. 

Click here for more details on Homer’s signing. 

QB P.J. Walker – 2 years

The Bears added quarterback P.J. Walker to back up Justin Fields. Walker, previously with the Panthers, has familiarity with DJ Moore. 

Last season Walker played in six games, passing for 731 yards and three touchdowns.

The Bears released Trevor Siemian.

TE Robert Tonyan – 1 year

The former Green Bay Packers tight end has joined the NFC North rivals. Tonyan has 1,437 career receiving yards but is a red zone threat with 17 touchdowns.

RB D’Onta Foreman- 1 year

The Bears added a second running back in free agency, rounding out that room. It’s a one-year contract. Foreman is also the latest Panther to join the team.

Foreman rushed for a career-high 914 yards in 2022, finding the end zone five times. 

DL Andrew Billings – 1 year

The Bears finally added some interior defensive line help. Billings spent three seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals before single seasons with the Cleveland Browns and Las Vegas Raiders. In 67 games, Billings has 120 tackles, 17 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.

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