Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - What edge rusher not named Maxx Crosby is the most realistic target for Bears?

Episode Date: January 30, 2026

Marshall Harris and Mark Grote discussed which free agents the Bears could pursue to bolster their pass rusher this offseason.

Laila Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody, midday's 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 670, The Score. M.X. Crosby isn't comfortable. I don't know. Rahimi, Harrison Grody, on the score. Marshall and I are broadcasting from our Odyssey Performance Studio. Well, the real studio is being fit right now. We're about to get a great fit at the score. That is an FM signal. going down on Monday as the drama continues to build. Who will be here on Monday?

Where will I be today? And what will happen? I don't know. But so we are in the performance studio. It is odd to be in here and not seeing faces in the audience because usually we have events in here. We see bands in here. Some cool acts have come through here.

We had an audience for a second in the way of shout out. Shout out to Mike Mulligan. our very own Mully, who has already put his time in today, came into the performance studio to say hi, shook our hands, sat down, and then left. You know what? I appreciated his presence. I forgot that there's a bunch of empty chairs until he sat down and realized there's a bunch of empty chairs. Yeah, I felt supported, is what I felt by Mully.

Now it's just us and Ray Diaz and Connor O'Donnell hanging out. Right, so we're getting into the flow here because we're out of our natural habitat. But, but, Bear's defense is. It is hugely important that there are, I don't know, substantial is the right word, but certainly shrewd changes need to be made for the bears on defense. And it starts with, and it has started with this position for quite some time now, Eddrusher, defensive end, in this 4-3 defense has been a bugaboo for the bears and has not been substantial, although Montez Sweat did get to 10.5 sacks,

but you just don't feel him as that tyrannical presence at the edge on every play like you do with guys like Max Crosby, who of course is circled, who of course we have discussed, who of course should be on the bear's radar. But I think we have to marshal. We have to go beyond Max Crosby because everybody wants Max Crosby, and we know that you would have to give up a ton to get Max. That's a jackpot. That's huge. That's winning the lottery if you're able to get that guy.

and I don't rule it out. But we do have to take a look at the list of the rest of the field and some players that may make sense for the Chicago Bears to slide in at that position. We talked about some of them yesterday. But I guess, Marshall, you have to start the top of the list is if we're not keeping this name. We know who's at the top of the list. Well, yeah, when you talk about people who are not under contract currently, who are just out here as free agents?

Yeah, that is? You start in Cincinnati. That's right. Trey Hendrickson, who is vacating Cincinnati at last check. And he didn't play that much last year, but it's tantalizing to think of what a guy who has his type of production in years past could do. He's 31 years old, so not over the hill yet, maybe at the peak right now. Like, you've seen the best of Trey Hendrickson.

You're banking on whether or not you think Trey Hendrickson can keep this up for another three to four years. Yeah, and he did. Look, he was injured last year for most of the season, as it turned out. He had four sacks over seven games. It is those massive numbers in the two previous years that you circle and you say, can he get back to that, the 17 and a half sacks in consecutive seasons for the Cincinnati Bengals. And I've done enough poking around and listening to people that I really respect about Trey Hendrickson.

And, of course, I always go to dark places, of course, when I think about, about 31-year-old defensive ends that join the Bears towards the end of their careers. I keep bringing you up Jared Allen. I have been assured that that is not what this is, that this man has a motor, that you're not going to, you can't predict injuries, but that it doesn't feel like he is going to be prone to anything further. So, of course, Trey Hendrickson would be a plus in this defense. I wonder how much it'll cost, though,

because we already know that the Bears are in restructure slash, slash mode, like the double slash the actual symbol, and then of course slashing as in cutting prices and cutting what they owe their players. I just wonder if that is something that is the most amenable to a guy like Ryan Poles right now. I am very adamant that whatever they're going to do to address the pass rush, they need to do it now and it needs to be

I don't even know if Shrewd is the right way to put it because I think it does have to be a big move. A big move to say we're going to make the most out of this rookie contract that our franchise quarterback for the next 10 plus years, Caleb Williams is on. And so because of that, there's just other guys that you can go down the list.

We talked a little bit about Khalil Mac yesterday, and Matt Bowen has just freshly released his top 50 free agents who are available. And it's interesting because you're wondering, okay, where are the guys? Hendrickson is at the top of that list, number one. And you're like, well, how far down do I have to go to get to another edge play?

player. Jalen Phillips is number five on the list from the Philadelphia Eagles. He's a guy who knows how to win because all the Eagles do is win as far as regular season goes. He has a Super Bowl championship. And let me read you the description of Phillips, according to Matt Bowen. With his long six-foot-five frame, I heard that Dennis Allen likes a little length in his players. Phillips can play as both an edge-setter and pocket disruptor. After being traded to the Eagles on November 3rd, He had two sacks and 27 pressures in coordinator Vic Fangio system flashing improved range to the ball over his five-year career. Phillips has accounted for 28 sacks and 150 pressures. It's a lot of pressures.

It's pretty good. I will counter that with that pros. And now just one thing. And it's a big deal to me in four of his seven seasons, Jalen Phillips, very good player, has played in single-digit games. the health. The health. That's a real factor. And you just had,

you just signed Dio Dangbo to this big deal, and what happened right away? It just sucks. You know what I mean? Like, you've got to think about that. And that is pretty much, that's truth right there,

that if you've had single digits in four of your seven seasons, that is something you have to zero in on. But I absolutely love the player. I just like, I would stay on that injury thing and be a little bit skeptical. on that. How about we do another

while you're naming guys, let me raise you a Matt Bowen to a Clay Harbor. Who was on with us yesterday here on Rahimi Harris and Grotie. And he was thinking, he had a couple names for you, but he was

thinking a little bit outside of the box, I would say, on one of the names who maybe you've heard of, maybe you haven't. Here's Clay Harbor. Two guys I do like, I know it's been a lot of him thrown around here. Trey Hendrickson, obviously the history with Dennis Allen. You go back two years, leading the league in sacks, fourth in pressures, fourth in hits.

You go back to last year, only played in seven games, but a top five pass rush win rate when he did play in those games. If the medicals check out, bring me him. And then the other guy, I just watched tape on him yesterday. Addafe Oway, I was looking up edge rushers. He was in a three, four defense, but this guy can play some defense events of edge rusher. He got traded from the Ravens to the Chargers. In the playoff loss to the Patriots, he had three sacks and two fours,

fumbles, and you look in the year, he was 11th among edge rushers in pass rush win rate after arriving in Los Angeles. This guy can move, he can play against the run, he can play against pressure the quarterback. I really like Adolfi Owe, and he's big. He's one of those guys that Dennis Allen likes. 27 years old, and I know he'd mentioned about Adafé Owee about the, and by the way, I don't know if he mentioned, but he was traded from the Ravens to the Chargers last year in in the game against New England, to which he referenced, he had three sacks and two force fumbles again in the playoff game, a loss against the New England Patriots.

So, yeah, it's like shiny object right there. He just, he is very now. He is right now. Well, the question is, what have you done for me lately? He's like, well, did you see what I did the last time I was on a football field? Yeah. It reminds me of DeQuan Brisker. We're going to bears it.

It's like, whoa. I don't know how great Brisker season was, but you leave that on tape in a playoff game. You could probably make some money off of that. Well, here's the thing about Addafi O.A. It's like a tale of two seasons, really. Because, you know, he plays 17 games. As you mentioned, he was traded. In his first five games, he didn't have a sack.

And then in the 12 games after that, seven and a half sacks is a lot. It's a lot. That's production. And you wonder, when you get a guy like this on the opposite side of Montez Sweat, how much would that open up Montez Sweat? himself to get well into double-digit sack territory because that's part of the issue. Well, and I hate that we have to go to that because we thought that Montes sweat was going to be the multiplier, that he was going to be the sweat effect, the Montez effect, the Tez effect, I'll get there.

That's what we thought. We were like, he's going to make everybody else better. But you're right. Like, you still need somebody thought it was going to be Montes-Swet, and maybe he got closer to it again. He had a strong second half of the season. But unfortunately, even with Diodangbo here, you are looking for that anchor at edge still to make everybody else fall into their proper spots. Like, sweat is a legitimate starting edge rusher, I think, in the NFL. No doubt about it.

If you really dug into the numbers, he's just not the top guy on that. Like, if you're really getting greedy, he's not your top edge rusher. Well, and I think the lack of pressure coming from the other side might have something to do with it. So you're talking about like multipliers. I don't even think they both have to be multipliers, but I think just having two really good guys, two double-digit sag guys, one on each side,

that creates so much chaos for an opposing passing attack that you can say the 10-and-a-half sacks from Montes-Swatt last year and then what O-A would bring to this defense, that now you have more than one guy you have to account for. Because outside of Montes-S-Swett, who are offensive coordinators accounting for in the passing game? Well, I guess one guy that I've heard through the years is it's because you always got to think of the guys that are the most physical. Like just really answering this question, maybe not quite in the spirit of it, but Joaquin Brisker, actually,

because you have to be aware of a guy who likes to lay the lumber. And that guy might not even be on your roster. And he may not be. I mean, there's a good chance he won't be on the roster. I mean, that is just a conundrum that you go through, you look at the same. safeties and as effective as they were together this year, it could be gonzo. And really, if we're talking about making a signing of an edge rush or really improving that part, the opportunity cost might be two new starting safeties next year. Yeah, that's why when we talk about who should

they move on from in an effort to clear some cap space, the list is long of options. And you've got to hit the right buttons. Otherwise, guess what? We'll be right here criticizing Ryan Poles again for making the wrong move. That's just the nature of the game. Ryan Poles understands that. Don't make me scribble on this blank page I've given Ryan Poles. Don't make me have to mark it all up. Yeah, you gave me, you, you tore off the bad stuff and you're like, oh, blank. You're like Ben Johnson. Oh, new season. We're starting from scratch. I just think like he had a, I think it's fair to not just stay in the, in the bad of what Ryan Poles did if things are on the, like, let's go with what the story is. And that has gotten better for Ryan Poles.

in the last two years. Yes, things have gotten better. You know why? They were absolutely bad. So I refuse to just grade him on a bell curve. Like, or just not a bell curve. A curve. I refuse to grade him on a curve.

That's the thing. You want to grade him on a curve. You want to grade him on a curve for two reasons. His tenure started off awful, but also the bears have been awful for a long time. And I'm like, if we're wiping away all of that and saying fresh... You're wiping it away. Because you know me, I will reference bears history on the daily. Selectively.

So, well, I guess you could say that. Because you're trying to, I mean, I'm not saying you're cowtowing to Ryan Poles. I'm just saying, I think you have to acknowledge the pros and the cons of how we got here. And what is it that you need to avoid to not go back to that dark place that you're talking about? Right, right. Yeah, I just try to stay with what is in front of me and what is right now. But that's a great debate. I mean, we can continue to talk about the job of Ryan Poles.

One other guy I wanted to ask about, I'll go through a couple more free agents. And I know we've got to take a break. But I've asked this question before. I may have asked you this question. I know I've asked Dan Wheater of this. I don't know if I've ever gotten the proper answer. Is Austin Booker good? Yes.

You think so. Awesome. Okay, what does that mean, though? Seven to ten sacks a year? I don't think Austin Booker is a finished product. I think Austin Booker is going to get bigger and stronger and be better. I think in this defense, where they are right now, he is progressing positively. Hey, look, let me give Ryan Pohl some credit.

They drafted him later. and he has come up with some big plays. He's had games where he's been the best lineman. And again, some people would say, oh, yeah, he's the tallest little guy. Like, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying he's actually made plays of impact in the regular season

in the way we saw him to do it in the preseason of his rookie year. I remember that's when all the buzz was, oh, this guy, Austin Booker, gets his backups from other teams. Where is it for real? And we started to see it this year. I am happy with the level of trend,

because it's trending in the right direction. And that's why if you get a front line edge that he's playing behind both of those guys. Now he's rotating and he's in on pass. I can see it being a positive thing for the bears to have it. He plays with the motor, plays with the motion. Those things never go out of style. When we return here on Rahimi, Harris, and Grotie, talk about the Bulls, a loss to the heat last night.

Moreover, there is a player, like with all the trades that we are discussing right now, there is a player that Marshall Harris believes the Bulls should not trade at the deadline. There is somebody who should stay per Marshall, and I will tell you how Marshall, Mr. Bulls, got in my head last night while I was watching the Miami Heat beat the Chicago Bulls 116 to 113. It's all coming up next on Rahimi Harrison Grotie on the score.