{"id":116454,"date":"2024-05-04T01:35:58","date_gmt":"2024-05-04T01:35:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aweu.info\/?p=116454"},"modified":"2024-05-04T01:36:08","modified_gmt":"2024-05-04T01:36:08","slug":"bears-projected-to-reunite-with-former-10-5-million-starter-in-2024-nguyensa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nflnhungn.aweu.info\/bears-projected-to-reunite-with-former-10-5-million-starter-in-2024-nguyensa\/","title":{"rendered":"Bears Projected to Reunite With Former $10.5 Million Starter in 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/GettyImages-1699207699-e1714754646387.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"Yannick Ngakoue Chicago Bears News Bears Free Agents Bears Targets Austin Booker\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-dom-ready-time=\"170\" data-img-load-time=\"201\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Getty\u00a0Bears head coach Matt Eberflus.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0Chicago Bears\u00a0have vastly improved their roster over the past few months between free agency and the 2024 NFL draft, but could lingering needs on their defensive line push them to reunite with edge rusher\u00a0Yannick Ngakoue?<\/p>\n<p>A potential reunion between the Bears and Ngakoue has been floated a few times since the conclusion of the 2024 draft. Most recently,\u00a0Windy City Gridiron\u2019s Bill Zimmerman\u00a0raised the subject in his \u201cway too early\u201d 53-man roster projection, saying that Ngakoue makes \u201ctoo much sense\u201d not to re-sign for the 2024 season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the Bears sign an additional veteran here and I think Ngakoue makes too much sense,\u201d Zimmerman wrote on May 3. \u201cHe didn\u2019t have a great 2023 season in Chicago, but he knows the Matt Eberflus\u2019 system and it\u2019s not like there are veterans available who were wildly productive in 2023. The bottom of this group is weak.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ngakoue signed a\u00a0one-year, $10.5 million contract\u00a0with the Bears just before the start of training camp last year and opened the 2023 season as their top defensive end starter, but he finished with the fewest sacks (four) and pressures (34) of his eight-year career. He also broke his ankle in December and spent the final four games on injured reserve.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Ngakoue could be a quality reinforcement for the Bears now that he is healthy. They added\u00a0Jake Martin\u00a0in free agency and traded into the fifth round to draft\u00a0Austin Booker, but the 29-year-old Ngakoue has 69 career sacks and would raise the bar for their depth alongside star\u00a0Montez Sweat\u00a0and returning starter\u00a0DeMarcus Walker.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Could Bears Re-Sign Yannick Ngakoue for Less in 2024?<\/h2>\n<p>The Bears paid a pretty penny to sign Ngakoue in 2023, even adding him as late in the summer as they did. This offseason, though, they are likely unwilling \u2014 and unable \u2014 to spend so much money on a single veteran addition at any position.<\/p>\n<p>According to\u00a0Over the Cap projections, the Bears will have roughly $12.5 million in effective cap space after signing their five 2024 draft picks. They will also want to set aside a good chunk of it for potential in-season expenses, such as acquiring a veteran player in a trade at the midseason deadline or signing a free agent to offset an injury.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, things are a little more manageable if they can add back Ngakoue for much less than they spent to sign him in 2023. While Ngakoue is still a talented pass rusher and will not turn 30 until after next season, he is coming off his worst season yet and a significant injury last year. Wherever he signs, it will likely be for less than $10 million.<\/p>\n<p>Would Ngakoue be willing to sign for as low as $3 million, the amount the Tampa Bay Buccaneers\u00a0agreed to pay\u00a0veteran\u00a0Randy Gregory\u00a0to sign with them for 2024? If so, then Zimmerman is right; A reunion makes too much sense for the Bears to avoid it.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Bears May Still Avoid Yannick Ngakoue &amp; Other Vets<\/h2>\n<p>The Bears may feel the need to explore the veteran edge rusher market over the next few months. Even if re-signing Ngakoue does not appeal to them, one of the other free agents \u2014 perhaps\u00a0Emmanuel Ogbah\u00a0or\u00a0Carl Lawson\u00a0\u2014 could make sense for them.<\/p>\n<p>That said, Chicago could always take the other route and throw Booker into the fire.<\/p>\n<p>The Bears have not shied away from throwing rookies into their starting lineup over the first two seasons of Eberflus\u2019 tenure.\u00a0Braxton Jones\u00a0and\u00a0Jaquan Brisker\u00a0were both Day 1 starters in 2022, while\u00a0Darnell Wright\u00a0and\u00a0Tyrique Stevenson\u00a0continued the trend in 2023. While Booker is raw and might not be quite ready for such a crucial role, it could benefit both him and the Bears defense if he works into the rotation early on.<\/p>\n<p>Booker looked explosive during his lone season as a starter for Kansas in 2023, putting up 56 total tackles, 12 tackles for loss, eight sacks and two forced fumbles. The Bears may need time to help him tap into that at the NFL level, but it helps to have a rising star in Sweat who can take him under his wing and teach him the tools of the trade.<\/p>\n<p>Who knows? If Booker is a quick study, it is possible he could make an early impact.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty\u00a0Bears head coach Matt Eberflus. The\u00a0Chicago Bears\u00a0have vastly improved their roster over the past few months between free agency and the 2024 NFL draft, but could lingering&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":116455,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflnhungn.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflnhungn.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflnhungn.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflnhungn.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflnhungn.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116454"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nflnhungn.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116456,"href":"https:\/\/nflnhungn.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116454\/revisions\/116456"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflnhungn.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nflnhungn.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflnhungn.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nflnhungn.aweu.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}