The nightmare that was the 2024 Chicago Bears season is over. Before the transactional period starts and the roster changes begin, we will recap the seasons of most of the 53-man roster. Next up: We’re looking at the 2024 season of defensive lineman Montez Sweat.
Montez Sweat’s 2024 Snapshot
Montez Sweat finished his 2024 season as the team leader in sacks, which says much more about how bad Chicago’s pass rush was this season than anything, considering Sweat’s team-leading sack total was just 5.5. Interior defensive lineman Gervon Dexter Sr.’s five sacks were second, and T.J. Edwards’ four sacks were third.
Chicago finished the season with 40 sacks, ranking 16th in the league as a unit. However, according to ESPN Stats and Information’s pass-rush win rate metric, the Bears’ pass rush was one of the least effective in football this season. By that metric, the group ranked 24th with a 37 percent pass rush win rate. Chicago’s run-stopping efforts at the line of scrimmage were even worse, with the Bears ranking 29th with a 28 percent run-stop win rate.
The disappearance of the 2023 version of Montez Sweat, who we saw after he landed in Chicago in 2023, played a significant role in those struggles. Sweat’s 65.6 defensive grade at PFF ranked 56th among edge defenders in 2024.
The chaos that ensued this season undoubtedly played a role in Sweat’s lack of production. “Weโre on a, what, 3, 4-game losing streak?” Sweat said in late November. “Iโm pretty f****** frustrated.”
But with the season in the rearview mirror, Sweat is optimistic of what’s to come.
โโIโve got to sit back and wait for things to happen, really,โโ Sweat said in December (via the Sun-Times). โโIโm interested in whatโs to come. Iโm very optimistic. Weโve got good pieces on offense and defense, and I hope we can return some and just build off of that.โโ
I understand that 2024 was a sโ show, but we can’t blame everything on the former regime. Sweat didn’t play well enough, often enough, to be the team’s highest-paid player. There’s no easy out of his contract, so it’s hoping and praying for a bounce-back season for the veteran pass rusher.
By the Numbers
- Tackles: 32
- Sacks: 5.5
- QB Hits: 12
- QB Hurries: 37
- Defensive Stops: 18
Contract Status
Montez Sweat signed a four-year, $98 million extension with the Bears shortly after being acquired at the trade deadline last season in exchange for a second-round selection. Sweat’s extension paid him $20.9 million in base salary, $4.085 million in signing bonuses, and 100K in workout bonuses, with a total cap hit of $25.085 million. Sweat is due the same camp number in 2025, 2026, and 2027.
Turning the Page
Montez Sweat isn’t going anywhere, so here’s hoping he can find that 2024 post-trade deadline magic next season. As it stands today, Sweat accounts for 9.0 percent of the Bears’ salary cap space, and his production simply has to be better next season to make that number tolerable.
Chicago will have a new head coach (it’s officially official with Ben Johnson) and defensive coordinator (Dennis Allen is reportedly on the Bears’ radar) next season, so we don’t know exactly what the defense will look like today, but we can assume that a new voice and system should help Sweat get back on track.
We can also assume (hope?) Ryan Poles will finally actually prioritize getting Sweat some help on the opposite side of the defensive line, which should also help Sweat bounce back in 2025.