Cash, Stash, Or Slash: Montez Sweat

As we continue through this series, we continue to look at veteran players on the Chicago Bears roster and what they should do with them over the next 12 months. Should they extend them (cash), should they cut them (slash), or should they wait and see how the next year plays out (stash)?

Next up, let’s look at Montez Sweat.

Sweat is an interesting player to look at because he is by far the most productive player on the Bears’ defensive line, but many fans don’t think he has lived up to the contract that Ryan Poles gave him when the Bears traded for him from the Washington Commanders. Sweat’s contract expires after the 2027 season. What should the Bears do with him?

Montez Sweat: Cash

Baring a catastrophic injury or a massive drop-off in play, there’s close to no reason to slash Sweat, but there are plenty of reasons to stash him and see what happens after a couple of seasons. If I’m the Chicago Bears, I give Sweat an extension after this season.

Some fans may be surprised at this stance, and I get it; Sweat turns 30 in September, extending him (let’s say 2 years) would be committing dollars to a player in their age 32 and 33 seasons. And it’s not like Sweat is a dynamic edge like a Micah Parsons or a Myles Garrett, but while you look at negatives, more so, look at the reasons why it should happen.

First of all, you have to keep someone on the defensive line. It’s not like Ryan Poles is going to be able to go out after this season and just find 4 new DL to play, maybe three with Austin Booker. You need some stability there. Sweat is a reliable pass rusher, a strong run defender, and plays almost every Sunday and turns in a solid game.

For fans who want Sweat to terrorize a game, he isn’t going to do that, but he is going to provide steady play and not let his side of the line get destroyed. Ideally, on a great defensive line, Sweat would be your second-best player. He would complement a stud opposite him or in the interior. But the Bears don’t have that, at least not right now.

Sweat’s contract has also aged quite well. Sweat is now making half (literally half) of what the top edges in the game are being paid, and you would have to think if the Bears try to extend a solid but not spectacular player in his early 30s, there’s very little reason to think he would be looking for a massive raise in salary.

Keeping Sweat around at his current price would be great for the Bears, who need to rework a lot of their defensive line if they are going to elevate this defense into a unit that belongs in the top half of the league.

If the Bears want a solid D, you need more players like Sweat, not less. Sweat is not the type of guy who should be the best defensive player on a roster; it’s not his fault that the Bears don’t have better defenders than him.

The durability Sweat has and the way he plays, I believe that he should be able to maintain this level of play at least for another three or four years, and if that’s the case, keeping him around as a building block piece on the defense with Devin Bush, Dillon Thieneman, and hopefully some guys like Austin Booker makes sense. Keep Sweat and add around him; subtracting him does very little to strengthen the Bears defense.

It makes too much sense: keep Sweat, and fix the mistakes around him; don’t make another by letting him walk.