Reports in the days leading up to the NFL trade deadline suggested the Chicago Bears were preparing to be aggressive buyers.

At 5–3, there’s a legitimate path for this team to stay in NFC playoff contention. But if that’s going to become reality, the Bears needed to get better — especially on defense.

Right now, that side of the ball is a disaster. The secondary and pass rush have been decimated by injuries. Jaylon Johnson and Kyler Gordon remain on IR, and just as Austin Booker made his season debut, Dayo Odeyingbo and Shemar Turner both suffered season-ending injuries. The defensive front can’t seem to catch a break — or stay healthy.

So it wasn’t exactly shocking when Chicago gave up 42 points and 470 passing yards to 40-year-old Joe Flacco on Sunday. The Bears were fortunate to escape with a win, but that box score tells you everything you need to know.

Chicago had to add defense at the deadline — and GM Ryan Poles did that, albeit in a modest way.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Bears traded a sixth-round pick to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for a seventh-rounder and edge rusher Joe Tryon-Shoyinka.

Tryon-Shoyinka, a former first-round pick (32nd overall by Tampa Bay in 2021), has been a steady rotational edge throughout his career. He tallied 15 sacks across his first four seasons, though his impact has dipped in 2025. In eight games with Cleveland this year, he’s logged just 31 defensive snaps and no sacks.

This isn’t the big splash move fans might’ve hoped for — but it’s a sensible one. The Bears aren’t one player away, and mortgaging valuable draft capital to fix a defense this banged up would have been shortsighted.

Instead, Poles made a low-cost addition that gives the Bears another body on the edge without compromising future flexibility. It’s not a headline-grabber, but with the Bears still uncertain of what they are, it’s the kind of steady, responsible move that's hard to complain about.

Time will tell if they sneak in another deal before the deadline. But as thing stand right now, Chicago didn’t win the trade deadline — but they didn’t lose it, either. And for a team still getting their sea legs under them and shuffling in the new regime of decision makers, that's a fine place to start.