One of the Chicago Bears‘ top cut candidates is linebacker Tremaine Edmunds.
Entering the final year of his $72 million contract, Edmunds hasn’t been as effective as he was earlier in his contract, and with the Bears needing cap space, he figures to be the safest bet to be released before free agency.
The problem for the Bears is they don’t have an in-house replacement for him, which means they’ll have to explore external options via trade and free agency.
In order to replace Edmunds, Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr predicts the Bears will pull off a trade with the New Orleans Saints for linebacker Pete Werner.
Here’s Orr’s thoughts on the prediction:
The Saints are going to trade Pete Werner to the Bears
With Chicago looking to move on from Tremaine Edmunds, the Bears will use a late-round pick to pair a Dennis Allen favorite with a defense in need of quality run support.
A former second-round pick of the Saints in 2021, Werner is a strong suggestion for multiple reasons.
For starters, he has experience in defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s defense, which will make for an easy transition to Chicago. Werner had some of the best showings of his career under Allen.
He’s also far cheaper than Edmunds yet offers many of the same qualities. Werner is not very good in coverage, but he plays the run well, which will be of particular interest to a Bears team that had the sixth-worst run defense in the NFL.
But would the Saints actually trade Werner? We believe it’s a real possibility.
Werner has disappointed since getting his contract extension, and chances are the Saints want to get Danny Stutsman more snaps.
The Saints could opt to hold on to Werner is Demario Davis doesn’t return, but if the veteran is placed on the trade block, the Bears make sense as a suitor.
