Bear Digest

The odd reaction to DeMarcus Walker cut considering who Bears can sign

Exciting edge rushers are available now to the Bears with their extra cap space after cutting DeMarcus Walker, yet some fans have reacted negatively to their move.

Gene Chamberlain

Chargers edge rusher Joey Bosa has been rumored to become a cap cut victim and Chicago could be a landing spot.
Chargers edge rusher Joey Bosa has been rumored to become a cap cut victim and Chicago could be a landing spot. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
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It's been a strange mixed reaction from Bears fans to their latest roster moves, to say the least.

You'd think anything the Ben Johnson regime does now would be given a grace period, even with GM Ryan Poles making the personnel calls.

After cutting defensive end DeMarcus Walker and tight end Gerald Everett, the Bears now have about $70 million in effective salary cap space, which is the money available after signing 51 players and their draft picks.

Overthecap.com says the actual figure without computations is 79.76 million.

The reaction to Everett leaving was easy to anticipate because of his eight receptions for $5.5 million last year. The reaction via social media to Walker's departure hasn't been as predictable.

Walker, a leader and veteran, apparently seemed to grow on people as the reaction was far more mixed than could have been anticipated.

Most defensive ends who sign for $7 million a year and three years are not expected to be big sack producers but should contribute a decent amount anyway, and Walker really didn't do it.

He did manage pressure at times but the inability to close, and more importantly, to remove the extra pressure from Montez Sweat had to be factors in their decision.

If Walker had been doing his job the way they hoped, there is no way Ben Johnson and Dennis Allen would want to lose him because, in theory, he fits exactly what the defensive end has been in the scheme they're likely to play.

Walker is 280 pounds and even slid inside to rush from three-technique position at times. This meant the Bears had a 262-pound end in Sweat and 280-pounder in Walker, and this is exactly the body type combo Allen ran in New Orleans with 261-pound Carl Granderson and 287-pound Cameron Jordan.

The difference is the bigger Jordan has been the greatest pass rusher in Saints history with 121 1/2 sacks.

What this means for the Bears most likely is Johnson, Allen and Ryan Poles saw someone in free agency or the draft or even as a potential cap cut victim, who better fits their edge rush plans than Walker.

The idea with free agency should be to get better—and with $70 million available, much better.

Keeping Walker around as a third or fourth in a rotational situation wouldn't have made sense considering he really wasn't effective as a sack artist when given the chance the past two years, and that's the role the third and fourth in a rotation needs to have. The every down edge can be a run stopper/pass rusher combo.

Walker had 1,452 defensive plays for the Bears and that was by far the most he has played in the NFL for any two-year period. His previous high for two years was 982. Yet, he only made seven sacks.

Signing him to begin with has to be the real issue because the only time he ever had more than 4 1/2 sacks in a single season was playing in a 3-4 defense with Tennessee. The Bears were playing a single-gap 4-3 defense.

All of the technical aspects aside, the bottom line is they wouldn't be doing this to simply let Austin Booker, Daniel Hardy and Dominique Robinson move up the ladder. All are oung players who haven't proven anything.

They don't have Darrell Taylor now. He is a free agent. They don't have Jake Martin. He's a free agent.

Martin Made three sacks on 222 plays. Taylor made three sacks on 375 plays. They both had half a sack less than Walker in far fewer reps but both are gone.

Walker was said to be far more stout against the run when the Bears got him but how stout could he have been last year? They went from first in the league against the run to 28th. No one on that defense was stout against the run.

The move was obviously made to upgrade the position according to a plan already made and it would be surprising if they didn't already have designs on a replacement for Walker in free agency or via trade. Don't even think about a trade for Myles Garrett—the Browns don't want to make that move.

Would it be Joey Bosa? His cap figure is extremely high for this year and he's rumored to be headed for the cap cut pile. He's 280 pounds and has battled through injuries over three seasons but when he was entirely healthy he had 58 sacks for the first six seasons.

Bosa would be a Chicago fit. Tyler Brooke of The 33rd Team thinks so in an article on the topic, calling the Bears, Cardinals and Lions ideal spots for Bosa to wind up.

Bosa, 29, has relatives here. His great uncle was Bears1960s center Mike Pyle, his uncle former Dolphins and Bears defensive end Eric Kumerow and his cousin former NFL wide receiver Jake Kumerow, who played at South Elgin High.

Maybe it's Matt Judon they are thinking about. He's a free agent, is bigger at 275, and was someone Poles sought in a trade last year.

Judon did experience a down year after being dealt to Atlanta with 5 1/2. sacks. He's had only 9 1/2 sacks the last two years after 28 the previous two. He would likely be a much cheaper investment than Bosa, but is 34 years old.

Khalil Mack is always possible, though 34 now and coming off a 17-sack 2023 season with only six last year. He has always been a stout player against the run besides being a monster pass rusher, but the former Bears star would be expensive. Pro Football Focus still has him as their highest projected contract for edges at $20 million.

Josh Sweat, Haason Reddick and Chase Young are all younger than Mack or Judon and smaller, but explosive pass rushers.

The name Dayo Odeyingbo might not grab you but the Colts free agent defensive end is 286 pounds and this would fit the Allen mold.

He's made only 16 1/2 sacks and has 21 tackles for loss in four years.

The certainty is they're going to try to improve and not simply turn things over to an unproven player.

It's why this mixed reaction seems so strange to cutting a player like Walker, who really produced mediocre results even for a moderately priced free agent.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.