The Bears are still looking for help off the edge, and one free-agent name now sits in plain sight: Jadeveon Clowney.
Tyler Dragon of USA Today recently connected Chicago to Clowney, the former Dallas Cowboy who remains unsigned. At 33, he’s long past the hype that followed him as the first overall pick, and since leaving the Texans in 2020, he’s bounced from one- and two-year deals to the next. Dallas was his most recent stop, and the pattern has stayed the same: veteran pass rusher, short-term contract, new team.
For the Bears, though, this one actually passes the smell test. Chicago has been tied to just about every edge rusher with a pulse, but Clowney makes sense as a low-risk addition for a defense that still has questions to answer. The team appears committed to the current group, yet plenty of fans and observers remain unconvinced that the roster is strong enough to climb out of the ugly rankings it posted in 2025.
What Clowney would bring is pretty straightforward. He’d add experience to a young room, and he’d likely come cheap. Spotrac.com has his market value at $5.7 million, but his last deal was for $3.4 million, and with July already here and no team attached to him, he’s probably looking for a landing spot more than a payday.
That’s why the Bears should at least consider moving money around to make it work. If it doesn’t click, they can move on without having sunk much into the gamble. If they do nothing and stick with what’s already there, the concern remains the same.
The Bears’ roster does have talent, and 2025 was hit hard by injuries. That’s part of the argument for making a move like this, not against it.
In the best-case setup, Clowney wouldn’t be asked to carry the whole load. He’d be there as a veteran presence, a stabilizer, someone younger players can lean on.
And if injuries or another setback hit, he’d still be capable of stepping in.
He’s not the superstar people once projected him to become. That’s not the point anymore. At the right price, Clowney looks like the kind of proven veteran the Bears can use in a position group that still feels unsettled.
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