NFL Rumors: Bills FA Tremaine Edmunds, Bears Agree to Record 4-Year, $72M Contract

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The Chicago Bears’ busy offseason continued Monday with a key linebacker addition.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the NFC North team agreed to a deal with linebacker Tremaine Edmunds. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the deal is for four years and $72 million with $50 million in guarantees, the biggest four-year contract for an inside linebacker in league history.

This isn’t the first linebacker Chicago agreed to a deal with Monday. Per Rapoport, the Bears came to terms on a three-year, $19.5 million contract featuring $12 million in guarantees with former Philadelphia Eagles playmaker T.J. Edwards.

The Bears entered the offseason with the most cap space in the league and the No. 1 overall pick, and they have made a number of drastic moves.

None of them were as impactful as trading that No. 1 pick to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for wide receiver DJ Moore, the Nos. 9 and 61 overall picks in this year’s draft, a first-round pick in 2024 and a second-round pick in 2025.

Moore gives quarterback Justin Fields a much-needed go-to wide receiver, and Chicago brought back plenty of draft capital to continue its rebuilding efforts. While much of the focus has been on the offense with a young quarterback who needs talent around him, defense was a concern for the team last year.

Enter Edmunds, who played the first five seasons of his career with the Buffalo Bills after they selected him with the No. 16 overall pick of the 2018 NFL draft.

The Virginia Tech product is a two-time Pro Bowler and has never finished a season with fewer than 102 tackles. Even while missing four games in 2022, he posted 102 tackles, seven passes defended, one interception and one sack while helping lead the Bills to an AFC East crown.

Chicago’s linebacker signings are notable since it didn’t sign Roquan Smith to an extension last season before trading him to the Baltimore Ravens. The defense was last in the league at 27.2 points allowed per game in 2022.

If Edmunds and Edwards can help improve that unit and the offense clicks with Fields and Moore, the Bears could be a threat in the NFC North.