Miami's cap casualty opens a lucrative free agency door. The Bears can now pounce on a proven pass rusher to bolster their defense.
The Chicago Bears have a lot of choices when it comes to filling their need for a proven pass rusher this offseason.
They could go the trade route.
Maxx Crosby is frustrated with the Las Vegas Raiders and is looking for a way out. However, with his meniscus injury taking a while to recover, it looks like a trade won't be possible until before the 2026 NFL Draft.
This means that teams will have until after the beginning of free agency to pursue a trade.
First Things First's Danny Parkins pitched another idea. He believes the Bears should put all their chips in for a Myles Garrett trade if he wants out of the Cleveland Browns.
Garrett just had his defensive coordinator, Jim Schwartz, resign after not landing the head coaching job in Cleveland, and the Bears could put him in a position to compete for a Super Bowl.
The Bears could also throw their hat in the Trey Hendrickson sweepstakes. His contract with the Cincinnati Bengals is up, but his Spotrac market value is $25.4 million.
On Monday, the Miami Dolphins gave the Bears another opportunity for the offseason.
NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported that the team plans to release edge rusher Bradley Chubb. It wasn't the only move that the Dolphins made on Monday, as they also released receiver Tyreek Hill.
Miami had to make these moves because Tua Tagovailoa's contract is so expensive. Tagovailoa's four-year, $212 million contract won't be up until the 2030 season.
So, naturally, players like Chubb and Hill are going to be cap casualties.
Chubb could help Chicago fix its lack of sack production. Chubb just had 8.5 sacks, 47 total tackles, eight TFLs, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
Montez Sweat was the only dominant pass rusher that the Bears had, finishing with 10 sacks. The team lost free agent signing Dayo Odeyingbo to an Achilles injury early in the year, so depth was thin there for most of the season.
As a whole, Chicago ranked 22nd in the NFL with 35 sacks on the year.
There are a lot of different ways that the Bears could go when it comes to finding a proven edge rusher. They could gain the likes of a star player like Crosby or Garrett for the right price in a trade, or they could try the free agent market.
Things just got a whole lot interesting for Chicago.