The Bears are finding out the hard way what the Colts already figured out about Dayo Odeyingbo.
Chicago handed the edge rusher a three-year deal worth as much as $48 million last offseason, betting that a bigger role would finally unlock the player Indianapolis had only seen in flashes. Instead, the early returns have looked a lot like the same frustrating story.
Odeyingbo’s time with the Colts never really took off. He barely saw the field in his first three seasons, starting only five games total, though his third year did bring a useful stretch with eight sacks.
Even then, Indianapolis never seemed fully convinced it had found a difference-maker. That hesitation made a lot more sense after 2024, when he was finally asked to be a full-time starter and came up short.
In that season, Odeyingbo finished with just three sacks and seven tackles for loss. His snap share climbed to 64 percent, a career high after sitting at 53 percent the year before, but the heavier workload didn’t lead to the kind of production the Colts needed. The result helped push the team toward a change at defensive coordinator.
Chicago still paid up anyway, and so far the Bears have gotten very little back. Odeyingbo played in only eight games last season, recording one sack, two tackles for loss and four quarterback hits. For a player brought in to bolster the pass rush, that’s a rough return on a major investment.
The contract only makes the situation sting more. Chicago structured the deal so Odeyingbo is due a guaranteed salary of $15.5 million in 2026, leaving the Bears on the hook whether the production improves or not.
There was also the injury. Odeyingbo suffered an Achilles tendon injury in Week 9, adding another layer of concern to a season that had already gone sideways. The comparison to Daniel Jones was raised in the source, though the difference was clear there: Jones was actually good in the first half of last season, while Odeyingbo was not.
For Indianapolis, that’s where the story ends. If the Bears want to keep waiting for a rebound, that’s their business. The Colts already lived through this version of Dayo Odeyingbo, and now Chicago is learning the same lesson.
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