The Chicago Bears have already done some work to shore up their defense, but one area still looks thin: defensive end. If they want another piece for the pass rush before the season begins, Brandon Graham is a name worth circling.
Graham, the longtime Philadelphia Eagles standout, would be a jarring sight in a Bears uniform at first. But the fit starts to make sense once you look at what Chicago needs and what the 38-year-old still brings.
The Bears enter the season after surprising the NFL by winning the NFC North, knocking off the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card round and nearly taking down the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round. They also kept most of their key offensive starters intact.
On the defensive side, they addressed the secondary by signing Coby Bryant and drafting Dillon Thieneman, but the line itself has mostly stayed the same. That’s where Graham enters the picture.
Even at this stage of his career, Graham could still be useful in a rotational role. The source notes he can handle about 15% of a defense’s snaps, which would be enough to make a real difference for a Bears team that finished in the bottom half of the league in team sacks last season, according to StatMuse.
Chicago doesn’t need him to be the old version of himself. It needs him to give the pass rush a jolt.
And Graham has built a career on making those moments count. He’s a two-time Super Bowl champion, and his resume includes the strip-sack of Tom Brady in the closing moments of the first Super Bowl. That kind of timing matters, especially for a team looking for veteran help up front.
He could also bring something beyond production. Graham would have value as a player-coach for younger defenders, giving the Bears a veteran voice in a room that could use one.
It’s not hard to picture the kind of snap Chicago would hope to get from him: a third-and-long against the Packers, Graham lined up on the other side of Montez Sweat, and Jordan Love getting brought down at the biggest moment. That’s the kind of scenario Bears fans can immediately get behind.
There’s also a broader point in Graham’s favor. Ryan Poles still hasn’t found the Bears’ franchise pass rusher, but maybe the team doesn’t need that exact answer to contend.
The last two Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles and Seattle Seahawks, won without a single dominant edge rusher carrying the whole load. They used groups of defensive linemen who could disrupt plays and make life miserable for quarterbacks.
That’s the model Graham could help Chicago follow.
If the Bears do make the move, they’d be joining a familiar pattern: aging pass rushers chasing one more shot at a ring. Von Miller did it with the Los Angeles Rams.
Carlos Dunlap did it with the Kansas City Chiefs. And Aaron Donald, after three years away from the game, is considering a comeback with the Rams after a tryout following the trade for Myles Garrett.
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