Although the Bears only used a strongside linebacker about a quarter of the time last season, and it doesn't figure to increase much with new defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, they'll need another player after the decision not to tender Jack Sanborn as a restricted free agent.
It's not difficult to find third linebacker candidates in free agency or when teams finish making their roster cuts, but the Bears have to fill in more than one roster slot because linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga is an unrestricted free agent after making $2.1 million as a backup last year.
There could be a linebacker slated for free agency who already knows the defensive scheme.
Saints linebacker Willie Gay, a Chiefs linebacker for four seasons before signing in New Orleans as a free agent this past season, is an unrestricted free agent.
Gay played for only $3 million last year with the Saints and filled a third linebacker role the way Sanborn did in Chicago.
A 6-foot-1, 243-pounder, Gay is actually a former Chiefs starter and about the same size as T.J. Edwards. He could be a backup at the weakside linebacker spot besides playing strongside.
Gay made 28 tackles and started eight games with 15 total games played in 2024 backing up Demario Davis and Pete Werner.
Gay started for the Chiefs from 2021-23 and left after their Super Bowl win as a free agent. He definitely didn't find free agency a place to be for an off-ball linebacker as he had to sign for $1.8 million with a $1.2 million bonus and a cap figure of $3 million prior to last year. That's less than the Bears would have needed to tender Sanborn at the minimum rate.
Linebackers, in general, are treated in free agency much like running backs have been for several years, and they don't get paid. There were only eight inside linebackers in 2024 making $10 million a year and only 23 over $5 million a year according to Spotrac.com.
Besides Gay, there will be others slated for free agency, but there is one player already on the roster who should be stepping up into that role Sanborn had.
That's Noah Sewell. He ran a 40 time at the combine in 2023 faster than a linebacker the Lions drafted and Johnson is very familiar with, and that's Jack Campbell. At 6-2, 246 pounds, he's big enough that some regarded him as a possible pass rusher. In college he did some of this.
Sewell has basically not been given much chance to show what he can do in the defense with only 32 plays within the defensive scheme in 22 games. He played 411 special teams snaps and was unable to get into 12 games since he was a fifth-round pick out of Oregon in 2023.
Sewell's new head coach has familiarity with the family as Sewell's brother, Penei, is the Lions All-Pro tackle. His new defensive coordinator, Dennis Allen, is familiar with the family through Nephi, who has been a Saints linebacker since 2022.
Replacing Sanborn could be a simple matter of promoting someone they already have on the roster and bringing in draft depth or a low-cost veteran free agent.
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