Ogbonnia Okoronkwo now available — Should Bears pounce?

Ken Blaze - USA Today Sports

Dustin Riese - Senior Writer - 5 hours ago

With less than a month to go until NFL Training Camp begins, barring any significant upgrades, the Bears roster you see now is most likely what you will have when camp opens. It's a talented roster that has improved significantly, but there are some holes that the team would like to fill before the regular season begins.

One of those holes continues to be the pass rush, as the Bears have made some upgrades, but not enough to push them into the top 15 when it comes to pass rushing units. If Dennis Allen can take this group and turn them into that, big things are going to happen for this team, and with Obgo Okoronkwo suddenly becoming available, the Bears should make some calls.

In case you missed it, the Cleveland Browns elected to release Okoronkwo ahead of the final year of his three-year, $19 million deal, making him a free agent ahead of the preseason. A name not many people are familiar with, the 30-year-old edge rusher has been a reliable rotational piece for several seasons and could bring some much-needed pass-rushing help to a unit that has lacked a pass rush apart from Montez Sweat.

The 6-2, 250-pound Edge rusher is coming off a bit of a down season as he registered three sacks in 16 games in 2024. He also logged 15 tackles, with most of those coming in a reserve role, as he made just three starts. Before that, Okoronkwo was starting to trend in the right direction as he logged 4.5 sacks in 2023 and a career best five sacks in 2022, all while bouncing between starter and reserve player those two seasons.

That comes out to 9.5 of his 17 career sacks in those seasons, so you can see the potential he has as a player. As is the case with a lot of players, health has been an issue for Okoronkwo, but it hasn't been as much of a problem the past few seasons as he has played in at least 14 games each of the past three years.

Prior to that, he never appeared in more than 13 games, including back-to-back 10-game seasons to begin his career. When considering the number of games he has played over his career and examining how many have come as starts, it is impressive that he has 17 sacks. He has consistently made the most of the time he has spent on the field.

If there is one thing that Allen does better than anyone, it is getting the most out of all of his players, regardless of the roles they play. You saw that during his entire tenure as the Saints' defensive coordinator, the third-string players consistently found ways to produce when given the opportunity.

Chicago is hoping that trend can continue this season as the Bears have invested a ton of assets to improve their roster and, for the most part, have one of the better rosters in the NFC on paper. Adding Okoronkwu would not only add to an already improved roster, but it would give the Bears one of the better reserve players on the free agent market.

Given that the Browns will still owe him the remaining money on his three-year deal, Chicago could be in a position to add him to their roster without having to spend a ton of money. It would also give Okoronkwu a chance to use this season as a prove-it deal in an effort to interview for a multi-year deal next offseason. This is another new name added to the list of remaining free agents, and it's a name the Bears could look to pursue as the season nears.