NEWSLETTER
I’ve been waiting for Justin Houston’s name to come up in connection with the Chicago Bears. And it has finally happened with long-time Chicago sports reporter Peggy Kusinski tweeting confirmation of the Bears’ interest in the free-agent sack artist:
Houston checks a bunch of boxes when it comes to finding a fit for the Bears’ vacancy at defensive end. His résumé is as legit as they come, particularly this late in the offseason.
Good luck finding another four-time Pro Bowler who was also a first-team All-Pro in 2014 just hanging around. And, sure, that league-leading 22-sack 2014 season was quite some time ago. But Houston has picked up 63 sacks in 104 regular season games since that stellar campaign came to a close. Consistent and productive are two things the Bears should be targeting in their search for help defensive end. And as Peggy mentions above, I imagine having familiarity with Bears GM Ryan Poles dating back to their time in Kansas City helps. Then again, Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus had Houston in Indianapolis in 2019 and 2020. So there are all sorts of connections that can be made here. Perhaps these ties will help Chicago’s front office reel in a useful defensive end.
For what it’s worth: Justin Houston has been on our periphery for a hot minute. When Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus told reporters the team was interested in pass rush help, Houston’s name came to mind. It wasn’t a name that was top of mind, but one I thought we should keep tabs on just in case. More recently, when discussing a report on the Bears wanting to bring in pass rush help ASAP, Houston’s name came up again. Once again, it wasn’t a name that was top of mind for us. But it was worth hammering home that Yannick Ngakoue wasn’t the only option worth exploring for the Bears.
Don’t get me wrong. Ngakoue is still interesting, but this post isn’t about him. Moreover, I’d be down to see Houston lining up at Soldier Field for Chicago’s team in Week 1. And because you want a good laugh on a Tuesday, it is fun to point out that we were banging the drum for Houston back in 2019. Time flies. And yet, Houston remains a person of interest for the Bears’ pass-rushing needs. Maybe time truly is a flat circle.
But there is a “but” … and it is one I have to address. Houston is 34 years old and has 163 games under his belt. That is a whole lotta mileage on that body. To be clear, this isn’t a deal-breaker for me. The way I see it, Houston could bring a strong veteran presence to a team that has all sorts of young players littered throughout the defense. All while still being a productive edge defender. Plus, we’ve seen a number of veteran pass rushers show out in their mid-30s. This wouldn’t be totally out of the ordinary if Houston came in and put up a strong season in the sack department. OK, so we’ve seen others fizzle out at this age, too. However, Houston has had just one season with less than 9 sacks since 2017. We’re talking about a six-year stretch in which Houston has played 88 games while averaging 8 sacks, 9 tackles-for-loss, and 16 quarterback hits per season. The way I see it, Houston has been aging well and should be someone whose availability the Bears inquire about.
I think we’re just getting started with this storyline. But also, I can see a situation where this gets a resolution quickly. Stay tuned.
