The 2026 season is just the second for the Chicago Bears in the post-Matt Eberflus era, but the front office has continued to erase as many signs of Eberflus as possible from the roster, something that makes sense when you consider that the Bears finished last in the NFC North in each of Eberflus' seasons.
The latest move to separate this current era of Bears football from the last one? The team's trade of defensive tackle Gervon Dexter, the team's second round pick in 2023 and a guy who is coming off a career-best six-sack season in 2025. So, why did the Bears move on from Dexter?
Gervon Dexter trade continues to show how the Bears have moved on
On Sunday, the Bears traded Dexter to the Atlanta Falcons for Clark Phillips III and a fifth-round pick. It's a move that makes sense for a number of reasons for the Bears.
First and foremost is that Dexter was entering the fourth year of his contract. He's been a productive player, though maybe not a top-of-the-line defensive tackle. His PFF grade ranked 72nd among defensive tackles last season, largely because he was far below average as a run defender despite being a very solid defensive lineman on passing downs. The Bears would have needed to decide if he was worth extending this offseason, but that now becomes Atlanta's concern.
Chicago also likely felt good making this move because this current coaching regime has already theoretically found its guys. The team brought in Neville Gallimore and Kentavius Street in free agency plus used a sixth-round pick on Jordan van den Berg, who has had a really strong preseason. Add in that Grady Jarrett is still around as well and you can see why the Bears didn't really feel the need to keep Dexter for one more season when the end result would likely have just been to let him walk.
And getting Phillips back in the deal is a win as well. The Bears secondary is much more of a concern than the Bears front seven is, so adding Phillips — a former Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year who was really good in 2024 before missing most of last season with a triceps injury — is a low-cost bet on improving the cornerback rotation. If he can bounce back to his pre-injury form, he'll be a good add for this defense.
The Bears successfully made it through Year 1 of this new regime, winning the NFC North for the first time since 2018. Making moves like this helps set the team up to continue that improvement by not forcing Chicago into a corner where it feels forced to spend big money on a player who was originally brought in by a different coaching staff.
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