The following is the sixth of nine position previews in advance of training camp.
The Bears' top three sack leaders from 2025 return this season in edge rushers Montez Sweat and Austin Booker as well as tackle Gervon Dexter Sr.
Sweat, who registered 10 sacks last year, has led the Bears in that category for three consecutive seasons and will look to build upon his second double-digit sack campaign.
"I loved him during the season, but when you watch the self-scout after the year, I think this was a guy that played at a very high level," coach Ben Johnson said. "I would argue it was the best year of his career. Whether that showed up statistically or not, that's debatable, but his ability to play the run and play the pass, I thought he did a really nice job. Hopefully it's something that we can piggyback on and carry that momentum into this year."
Along with affecting the quarterback with his rushing ability, Sweat had one of his best seasons in terms of takeaways, forcing three fumbles and recovering one fumble. The 8-year pro also posted 18 quarterback hits and 13 tackles-for-loss — his best numbers in both categories since his Pro Bowl season in 2023.
In his second NFL season opposite Sweat, Booker posted 4.5 sacks in 10 games, which included nine starts. The Kansas product began the 2025 season on injured reserve after sustaining a knee injury in the second preseason game of the year, sidelining him until the Bears' Week 9 win over the Bengals Nov. 2, when he recorded his first sack of the year.
Booker came alive at the end of his sophomore season, recording 3.5 sacks and six quarterback hits in Weeks 15-17. He also added a sack and two QB hits in the Bears' wild card win over the Packers.
"He's just scratching the surface," Sweat said. "He's shown a lot of flashes of the type of player he can be. He's still young and learning the ins and outs of being a pro, but the sky's the limit for him."
With 6.0 sacks and two forced fumbles, Dexter posted his best season in 2025 while starting every game. He will be rejoined in the interior by veteran Grady Jarrett.
While the Atlanta native missed time early in the season due to a knee injury, Jarrett played in 14 games, including four starts, in his first year as a Bear while adding 1.5 sacks and eight quarterback hits. At full strength during OTAs this spring, Jarrett expressed his eagerness to improve last season.
"I take a lot of pride, and it's exciting to be feeling a lot better this year," Jarrett said May 28. "And I know that I owe Chicago a better year, and I'm excited to go do that."
The D-line will also welcome a pair of players back from injured reserve in veteran Dayo Odeyingbo and second-year pro Shemar Turner. After starting the first eight games of the season, Odeyingbo suffered an Achilles injury against the Bengals in Week 9 that sidelined him for the remainder of the year.
Near the end of the Bears' offseason program in June, Johnson provided a positive update on Odeyingbo's rehab after he was seen out at practice during minicamp.
"We weren't quite sure when we started the offseason program that we would get him for any length of time," Johnson said. "The fact that he's on the field, he wants to be out there, it's just another step forward in terms of him gaining confidence again and how he's moving. He's done a great job being attentive in meetings, and I know he was really itching to get back out there with his teammates. It's a step in the right direction for sure."
Turner sustained a season-ending knee injury in Week 8 of his rookie season. While Johnson didn't share details on Turner's return, he told reporters that the summer would be a major part of his recovery and that the Bears will reassess his timeline at the start of training camp.
Veteran Daniel Hardy, who primarily served as a key special teams contributor in 2025, also returns to the Bears after signing a two-year contract in March.
The Bears also added a few depth pieces across the defensive line in Neville Gallimore, Kentavius Street and Jordan van den Berg.
Entering his seventh NFL season, Gallimore has played in 83 career regular-season games as well as five playoff games. He spent the 2025 season in Indianapolis where he played in all 17 games with eight starts and set career highs with 38 tackles, 3.5 sacks, six QB hits, four tackles for loss and three passes defensed.
Through seven NFL seasons, Street has played in 85 games with the 49ers (2019-21), Saints (2022), Eagles (2023) and Falcons (2023-25).
Van den Berg was selected by the Bears in the sixth round of the 2026 NFL Draft after spending the past two collegiate seasons at Georgia Tech, where he played in 26 games with 20 starts. He earned First-Team All-ACC honors in 2025, having led the Yellow Jackets with 11.0 tackles-for-loss while adding 3.0 sacks and 44 total tackles.
"When you watch that 60-play cut up of the things that this player can do, it was pretty impressive," defensive coordinator Dennis Allen said of Van den Berg. "Just the movement, the skills, the power, the athleticism, the effort, the toughness, like all those things, the football character. I keep saying that the football character bled off the tape to us. He was a guy that we thought, 'Man, this guy really fits into what we want to do.
"So there's certainly a lot of things that he still has to improve on. But there's a skillset there, and there's a football character there that we were excited about working with."
Also competing in training camp will be James Lynch, Jonathan Garvin, Jeremiah Martin, Jamree Kromah and Jayden Loving.
