LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Montez Sweat arrived at Halas Hall on Wednesday and fielded a flurry of questions about his long-term future in Chicago.
The Bears traded a 2024 second-round pick to the Washington Commanders on Tuesday to acquire the 27-year-old edge rusher. Sweat is in the final year of his contract and will be a free agent at season's end.
The star edge rusher didn't have many answers about whether or not he'll look to sign an extension to stay in Chicago. He's still trying to figure out everything after the whirlwind of the past 24 hours.
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"Obviously, a player always wants to have security playing the sport that we’re playing but I mean I’m sure everything will work itself out," Sweat said. "I’m just taking it one day at a time. Everything is happening kind of fast right now. I’m just waiting for it to slow down and hit the ground running when we get there."
BEARS ANALYSIS
General manager Ryan Poles believes the Bears and Sweat will be able to come to terms on a long-term deal.
“It’s hard to put a timeline on it, but I’m hoping it won’t take too long," Poles said Wednesday.
"I feel really confident that we can get a deal done."
Sweat, the No. 26 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, did admit he has to look at several factors before deciding where he wants to be long term.
“Yeah, I think all that goes into play from financial to the people around me to the players in the building, all that type of stuff like that," Sweat said. "But so, as I said, I just got here. I’m still trying to figure out where I’m going to lay my head at tonight."
Given the price the Bears paid to acquire Sweat, the defensive end has a ton of leverage in upcoming negotiations. The Bears can't afford to lose him for nothing. They can franchise or transition tag him, but they didn't trade a top-35 pick for 18 months of a top-tier edge rusher in his prime.
General manager Ryan Poles has to get a long-term deal done with Sweat, even if it means overpaying.
"I'm not really into the contract talks, so I don’t really know too much about leverage and all that type of stuff," Sweat said when his position of power was brought up. "Like I said, I just, like I said, I just want to consider everything around me before I make a decision."
That decision has to be to stay in Chicago long term. There's no other choice but for Poles to make it happen.