Mike Danna The person mentioned may not be very famous, but they used to play for the Kansas City Chiefs and could be the best choice for the Chicago Bears to pair with defensive end Montez Sweat.
The Chiefs now have the money to re-sign Danna after trading defensive back L’Jarius Sneed to the to the Tennessee Titans. However, the Bears might be able to get him with a better offer, which means they could have a young pass rusher who had a great year.
Alex Ballentine from Bleacher Report thinks that Danna is someone the Bears should try to bring to Chicago.
One write-up about Danna said, “He would be a strong addition to a defensive line that needs an edge-setter for early downs, but might use a pass-rushing specialist to get him off the field” Ballentine wrote this on March 30 . The Bears could pair Danna with Montez Sweat. Their defensive line is still under construction and this move would address another need before the draft.
The Possible Move of Mike Danna to the Chicago Bears Makes a Lot of Sense
Danna was mostly used in a backup role for the first three seasons after being picked in the fifth round by Kansas City in 2020. However, he started 16 games for the Chiefs last year.
The 6-foot-2, 257-pound Danna had his highest number of tackles (50), tackles for loss (7), quarterback hits (13) and sacks (6.5) last year . He played in 74% of Kansas City’s defensive snaps last year, which was also the year when the Chiefs won their second consecutive Super Bowl.
Danna also has ties to the Windy City. Bears general manager Ryan Poles was at Kansas City in 2020 as an assistant director of player personnel and was involved in bringing the defensive lineman into the NFL.
Since the best edge rushers are already taken in free agency, Danna could be a valuable addition with a large potential upside.
PFF Some predict that he may sign a three-year, $24.75 million contract with $14.75 million guaranteed ($8.25 million per year) . The Bears currently have just under $22.5 million in cap space, according toOver the Cap
. They want to strengthen their pass rush. Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said at the scouting combine in February, “We need to have someone on the opposite side of Sweat. We can never have enough of those guys because they affect the game the most” (via 247 Sports)
The Bears have various appealing options at the Edge in the upcoming draft
. There is a lot of talent at edge rusher in this year's draft. There are options like Florida State's Jared Verse, Alabama's Dallas Turner and UCLA's Laiatu Latu for the Bears at No. 9, or maybe even later in Round 1.
Chop Robinson from Penn State, Bralen Trice from Washington, and Chris Braswell from Alabama could also be options for Chicago.
Both Verse and Turner are especially strong candidates. “Other defensive players might have more upside than Verse, but he appears NFL-ready now,” noted Adam Jahns from The Athletic on March 25. He said, “His strength and aggressive style make him a perfect match for Sweat. And that should happen from day one” . Another colleague, Kevin Fishbain, mentioned, “Turner is flexible and would give Eberflus multiple choices in how to use him. Teaming up Turner with Sweat… would greatly improve the starting four in front”
(from the same write-up by Jahn)
It will be fascinating to see whom Chicago selects to match with Sweat on the defensive line. If the Bears discover the correct person, their defense could be among the top 5 in the NFL.
