The Chicago Bears had a lot of money to spend this off-season. GM Ryan Poles had worked countless hours to free up cap space for reshaping the roster. Everybody knew he would make at least one big move. What they didn’t expect is who it would go to. Chicago locked up two-time Pro Bowl middle linebacker Tremaine Edmunds with a four-year, $72 million deal. It made him the fourth-highest-paid linebacker in the league at $18 million per year. It was a surprise because Pole had spent months insisting that position wasn’t considered a “premium” type compared to others on defensive like pass rusher and cornerback.
Some feel the Bears overpaid. No linebacker is worth that much money (despite the Ravens receiving tons of praise for paying Roquan Smith). That aside, Dan Durkin of The Athletic wanted to get to the bottom of why Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus were so intent on making sure Edmunds ended up in navy blue. Durkin is a top tape analyst who covers the Bears and dug deep into the linebacker’s film. It didn’t take long for him to realize that the team knew exactly what it was paying for, and they might’ve gotten a bargain.
Tremaine Edmunds can do pretty much whatever he wants.
That is only natural when you’re 6’5 with 34-inch arms and 4.5 speed. Yet people never give him enough credit for how smart he is. The Buffalo Bills had a top three scoring defense in three of the past four seasons. No way that happens with Edmunds’ presence in the middle. His ability to coordinate the on-field action while also making tons of plays himself was instrumental to their success. Eberflus is a former linebacker himself. He likely saw immediately how valuable the 25-year-old could be for the Bears’ defense.
Don’t forget this team was 31st against the run last season. People always talk about coverage and rushing the quarterback. Stopping the run is equally vital. Tremaine Edmunds will help with that right away. In addition, his long frame and legitimate speed will create much smaller throwing windows over the middle. Opponents won’t have it nearly as easy as they did last season. While he may not be what Brian Urlacher was, Edmunds will be able to cover up a lot of the problems like the former Bears great did.
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