Windy City Gridiron
Defensive end Montez Sweat racked up an even 10 sacks last year for the Chicago Bears, becoming their first player since Robert Quinn set the franchise record with 18.5 in 2021, to hit double digits in the Windy City.
The Bears haven’t had two players get double-digit sacks in the same season since 1993, when Richard Dent and Trace Armstrong had 12.5 and 11.5, respectively. But if Sweat does it again, and if Austin Booker can hit 10 or more sacks, as 82% of our fans believe he can, then we’ll all look back on Chicago’s lack of offseason movement at defensive end and chalk one up for player development.
Booker had 4.5 last year in 10 regular-season games, and he added one more sack in the postseason. He’s shown improvement in each of his two seasons since being a fifth-round pick in 2024, and his teammate thinks he has plenty more to offer.
“He’s just scratching the surface, Sweat said about Booker on Wednesday. “I think he’s shown a lot of flashes of the type of player that he could be. He’s still young and still just learning the ins and outs of being a pro, but the sky’s the limit.”
The coaches have altered Booker’s stance, which has been helping him get off the ball quicker, and he’s added about 10 pounds to his frame.
Considering Chicago didn’t bring in a pass rusher this offseason, they need Booker to step up, but they also need Sweat to maintain his high level of play.
Head coach Ben Johnson talked about what Sweat brought to the team.
“My appreciation grew even more. I loved him during the season, but when you watch the self-scout after the year, I think this was a guy that played at a very high level,” Johnson said of Sweat. “I talked to him yesterday about it. I would argue it was the best year of his career. Whether that showed up statistically or not, that’s debatable, but his ability to play the run and play the pass, I thought he did a really nice job. Hopefully it’s something that we can piggyback on and carry that momentum into this year.”
If Sweat and Booker can harass opposing quarterbacks and each get 10+ sacks, that will increase their chances to repeat as NFC North champs. Our partners at FanDuel Sportsbook still have the Bears with the third-best odds to win the division (+330) behind the Green Bay Packers (+250) and the Detroit Lions (+150).
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