Most important Chicago Bears in 2025: No. 2 Montez Sweat

The wait is almost over. The Bears will return to the practice field Wednesday when they hold their first training camp practice under new head coach Ben Johnson.

Over two weeks, Shaw Local is counting down the top 10 most important Bears heading into the 2025 season. Importance is obviously subjective. But for our purposes, it comes down to these questions:

Are the Bears worse off without the player? Does the player have untapped potential or past greatness to live up to? Is his story going to be one fans follow closely this season?

The best player on the team isn’t always the most important, but he certainly can be.

Here’s a look at No. 2 on the list. Check back the rest of the week to see the top 10 most important Bears.

No. 2 Montez Sweat

Position: Defensive end

Experience: Seventh season

Looking back: Bears general manager Ryan Poles made a big bet when he cut a deal for Montez Sweat right before the trade deadline in 2023. Poles sent over a 2024 second-round pick to the Washington Commanders in exchange for Sweat, then signed him to a four-year, $98 millions extension.

That bet instantly paid off for the Bears. In nine games in Chicago in 2023, Sweat showed that he could be the team’s featured edge rusher. He led the Bears with six sacks and finished third on the team with 14 quarterback hits.

The production wasn’t as consistent in his first full season with the Bears last year. Sweat kept up the pace in the first seven games last year when he collected 3.5 sacks and six quarterback hits. But in the remaining nine games, Sweat added two more sacks and six quarterback hits.

Injuries played a role in the lower production. Sweat missed the Bears’ Week 9 game against the Arizona Cardinals with a shin injury and never looked 100% the rest of the year even though he played every game the rest of the season. The Bears also didn’t create much pressure from other points on the defensive line to help Sweat.

Looking ahead: Sweat and the Bears are looking to rebound this fall after not much went right last year during a 5-12 season. Although he didn’t want to lament too much on last season when he met with reporters during the spring, Sweat did see value in learning from it in order to return to his 2023 form.

“You definitely use it as motivation, knowing that you didn’t have as good of a year as you wanted to or could have, so it’s in the back of my mind,” Sweat said. “But I’m sincerely just moving forward, working on what’s next.”

Poles used the offseason to bolster the defensive line around Sweat. He signed defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo in free agency to play opposite of Sweat. Poles also signed veteran defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and selected tackle Shemar Turner in the second round of this year’s draft. The Bears plan to attack in waves from the inside, which in turn should make life easier for Sweat.

Sweat will be asked to be the franchise pass rusher in defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s aggressive play calling. Allen likes to consistently pressure quarterbacks in waves while the secondary plays man-to-man coverage. In order for everything to work, Sweat, along with the defensive line, will need to get to the quarterback better than he did last year.

All of that sets the stage for a big season from Sweat. The Bears will need the defense to step up early in the season as quarterback Caleb Williams and the rest of the offense get used to Johnson’s play calling.

The defense will go as far as Sweat goes. If Sweat plays like the franchise pass rusher Poles bet he could be, the Bears will have a chance to compete for a spot in the playoffs in Johnson’s first season as head coach.

Previous installments of the top 10 most important Bears

• No. 10 Gervon Dexter
• No. 9 Drew Dalman
• No. 8 Dayo Odeyingbo
• No. 7 D’Andre Swift
• No. 6 Rome Odunze