The report Danny Trevathan signed a three-year contract with the Bears Thursday night felt like a welcome, albeit brief, respite from the entire sports world otherwise shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It felt normal to talk about contracts, or roster impacts, or why a move was made, even everything else won’t feel “normal” for a while.
But let’s capitalize on that sliver of normalcy here. Keeping Trevathan in Chicago was a good move for the Bears, knowing how much those inside Halas Hall appreciate his impact on and off the field.
“A lot of guys lead by example, but coaches, offensive players, defensive guys know when Danny speaks, you listen,” fellow inside linebacker Josh Woods said. “You know? He’s not like one of those leaders that’s like an a—hole or anything. He’s a great guy. When he speaks, it’s positive. It’s always positive reinforcement.”
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That sort of genuine positivity echoes through an entire team. It brings “instant credibility,” as defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano put it.
“He does a great job of coming in every day and earning that respect, so it goes a long way because they understand how hard it is to get there and how hard it is to actually win it. It's monumental in the sacrifices that everybody has to make, so it's great having guys that have been down that road.”
Trevathan is a fantastic player when healthy, though he missed 17 games due to injury with the Bears from 2016-2019. He had 102 tackles in 2018 and was on pace for 124 when he suffered a season-ending elbow injury in the Bears’ ninth game last year. He’s the one who makes the Bears’ defensive calls, not Roquan Smith, and still plays with speed and physicality.
Maybe it’s better to consider what the Bears would’ve been losing had they not kept Trevathan, and instead replaced him with a different free agent and/or draft pick, though. The Bears probably could’ve found someone as productive as Trevathan, sure, but it’s the other stuff he does — the communication, the leadership, etc. — that would’ve been tougher to replace.
NFL
“It’s a presence,” inside linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis said. “He holds a presence and that’s not always a skill thing. Sometimes, either you got it our you don’t. He has it.”
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