DL Emmanuel Ogbar could be a fit for Bears |
With the NFL draft in the rearview and Rookie Mini Camp fully underway, the NFL offseason is in full swing. Before we know it, training camp will be here, followed by the preseason and, of course, the much-anticipated regular season.
Although it may seem like all of that is coming up quickly, which it is, the Bears still have a lot of work to do and only two months to figure out what they want this team to look like come camp. While the offense seems to be solidified for how they want this team to look, unless the Bears are content with the defense, they do have some holes to fill on that side of the ball. Adding more depth is obviously Ryan Poles's main goal at this point, but he should also focus on more pass rush help to take the pressure off Montez Sweat this season. Yannick Ngakoue was already mentioned as a possible free-agent candidate for the Bears to target, as he will bring a much-needed pass-rushing mentality to the Bears on a cheaper deal. However, considering his season-ending ankle injury that required surgery, can the Bears really count on him to give them his normal production next season? That will have to be discussed, but in the meantime, the Bears could consider other options, including Emmanuel Ogbah from the Miami Dolphins. With the Bears in a familiar position to last offseason where they needed pass rushing help, finding one in free agency may be outside the cards at this point. Ogbah makes even more sense if that is the case, as he would make far less money than most free-agent options. Ogbah has notched 42.5 sacks and 268 total tackles over his eight-year NFL career and picked up a Superbowl Ring with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019. Following that season, Ogbah signed a deal with the Miami Dolphins, where he recorded back-to-back nine-sack seasons. This helped him land a lucrative four-year, 65 million-dollar extension. Thirty-two million of that deal was guaranteed, as he will be entering year three of that deal. Knowing that he has multiple years of control and is a fit for what the Bears need on defense, Ogbah is an excellent option for this team and would pair nicely with Sweat. However, some concerns are starting to show in his game, which hinders his age. At 30 years old, Ogbah is approaching the wrong side of 30, which is the point when most NFL players start to lose a step or two. It gets worse. Since signing that new contract, Ogbah has been a shell of himself. He registered just one sack in nine games during the 2022 season before missing the rest of the season with an injury. He then bounced back nicely last season with 5.5 sacks, which was still a far cry from the production he was showing in his first two seasons in Miami. The Dolphins elected to cut his contract to save 13.5 million dollars, and Ogbah is now free for the taking on the open market. Even if he is coming off a recent injury and his sack numbers are slightly down, Ogbah will still be of value to this team, especially playing alongside Sweat on the defensive side of the ball. “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 said recently. “Getting 300 snaps of solid pass-rushing performance from Ogbah for $2 million would be a good deal for GM Ryan Poles.” Whether you want Ngakoue, Egbah, or someone else to add some pass-rushing help to the Bears defense, there are options out there, and the Bears will pursue those options. What they do with that is entirely up to Poles, but one thing has been evident since he took over this team. Expect the unexpected as he continues to work wonders for this franchise.
