Analyzing the 2023 trade deadline moves: Washington defensive ends going different ways at the deadline

Montez Sweat traded from the Commanders to the Bears

Chicago spends another early second-rounder at a position of need

Bears receive: Montez Sweat

Commanders receive: 2024 second-round draft pick

Considering Washington proclaimed prior to this past Sunday that they would be willing to move on from one of their edge defenders at least depending on if they beat the Eagles or not and while they did keep it close yet again and I wasn’t sure they would ultimately move on from Montez Sweat and Chase Young, the shocking part to me is that the Bears would be in the market for one of them.

And that is not based on Chicago’s needs, as they certainly needed help at that position, considering their ten sacks across eight games are five fewer than any other team in the league and eighth-year veteran Yannick Ngakoue, clearly on the down-swing of his career, is the biggest name they have.

Sweat having 6.5 sacks and 11 QB hits by himself provides a massive upgrade over whoever they’d otherwise give snaps to. With that being said, up to this point they haven’t worked out an extension with him, since it would be just insane for them to not look at this as a long-term investment for what currently is a 2-6 team.

More importantly, they did this just last year! Sure, Sweat is a substantially better player than Chase Claypool was at the time and particularly in retrospective on what a disaster his time in Chicago turned out to be. However, in principle, they once again invested an early second-rounder (currently slated to be pick 35) in a player on a rookie deal without the benefit of quality play at a low cost.

The Steelers got a starting cornerback in Joey Porter Jr. out of it this past April and now Washington gets to re-set with what might end up as an equally talented prospect at a much lower cap number, since they would’ve otherwise probably let him walk anyway.

I understand that Ryan Poles needs those cornerstone pieces to build the roster around, but I just don’t agree with this, when you already spent a combined 31.5 million annually on Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards and DeMarcus Walker this offseason for at least the next three years. And unless the groundwork on a new deal is already done, I just don’t like how they’re putting all the leverage in Sweat’s hands.

On Washington’s end, I was once again surprised that they ended up moving on from both their young defensive ends (Sweat and Chase Young), but this seemed like a predetermined decision, once they moved to 3-5 with their second loss to the Eagles – albeit it in another highly competitive affair until the end.

New ownership clearly wants to move this franchise into a new direction and at this point it appears that it would take a miraculous turnaround in spite of moving on from a couple of promising young defenders, for Ron Rivera and Jack Del Rio to stick around.

There was some thought before the season that Eric Bienemy may ultimately be elevated and that may still be an option if the offense continues to show improvement and they people at the top haven’t settled on anybody becoming available. Quarterback Sam Howell has been extremely up-and-down, but the EB effect has been felt in the nation’s capital to some degree and also when you look at the decline for Kansas City’s attack.

So I won’t rule that out yet, considering he was asked to elevate a former fifth-round pick at the most crucial position, even though I’d say it’s pretty unlikely. The variance on the defensive side of the ball is the area that isn’t acceptable, because even with some injuries holding them back, they’ve allowed an average of 23.9 points per game since that first of four years with the current regime – and they’re 31st in the NFL right now (28.5 PPG).

Their collection of four first-round picks along the D-line prior to this week was definitely their one bright spot, but clearly they’re not on track for a contending franchise as currently constructed and they might need that extra draft capital if they want to be part of the quarterback market in this upcoming draft.

I’m just worried about who they have rushing the passer off the edge now and would hope this finally gets fifth-round pick K.J. Henry (Clemson) on the field, who has yet to log a snap on defense as a rookie.