What Bears Signing Edge Rusher Like Yannick Ngakoue Can Mean

Everyone from Pro Football Focus to NFL.com to Bleacher Report has speculated the Bears will sign edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue.

No one has a source saying it's happening. 

The possibility of paying a good amount for a player who essentially only pass rushes doesn't really fit the mode of operation for a Matt Eberflus defense, but at this point the Bears look rather desperate.

If it's another player, like Frank Clark or Jadeveon Clowney, it makes more sense because both will go outside their pivot point to make an attempt to tackle a ball carrier on a running play. The same cannot be said for Ngakoue.

However, there is another reason why adding a fifth edge rusher to Dominique Robinson, Trevis Gipson, DeMarcus Walker and Rasheem Green makes less sense. Or more accurately, it makes little sense to have five of them active on game day.

The fifth player won't be used. 

It's that simple.

The Kingsley Jonathan Era

Last year the Bears used five active edge rushers in Week 2 and Week 3. That's it. They played four edge rushers in the rotation every other game.

In the opener, it was four players—Dominique Robinson, Trevis Gipson, Al-Quadin Muhammad and Robert Quinn. Then in Week 2 and Week 3 they added Kingsley Jonathan getting a role as the fifth player and in those weeks he had six and three plays on defense.

By the time Jonathan made an appearance as an edge rusher again it was Week 8 and Robert Quinn had been traded. He became the fourth pass rusher, Jonathan had only nine and seven plays in Weeks 8 and 9 and then 10 in Week 10 before he was gone and did not return to a Bears game until he had been waived and picked up by Buffalo. Then he was playing the Bears.

They even had a game when Jonathan and Geri Green were the extra edge rushers combining for 16 total plays, and Gipson and Robinson played virtually the entire game. So much for your rotational approach.

Regardless, they went the entire rest of the season after Week 3 with four edge rushers active and participating in the rotation but never more than four. Taco Charlton, he of the famed golden taco chain, and Jalyn Holmes made appearances in the rotation but never did they have more than four for those games.

So essentially, they played almost all year with four players active and in the rotation at end. They're not switching that up by changing up their use of linemen after getting four new defensive tackles in Andrew Billings, Travis Bell, Zacch Pickens and Gervon Dexter. 

If the Bears sign Ngakoue or even one of the other edge rushers, it's going to mean keeping a fifth edge as a weekly inactive for depth purposes or bringing up a practice squad player every now and then.

Obviously, if it's a player with the stature of Ngakoue or Clark who sign with the Bears then it's going to mean Robinson sitting out. 

GM Ryan Poles just drafted Robinson in the fifth round and it's true he hasn't produced since his very first game. He had 1 1/2 sacks in that game, then none the rest of the year. He didn't have a QB hit after the first game, either.

Signing Ngakoue would likely mean an admission Robinson isn't going to work out. It would have to mean shelving or cutting Robinson.

The other option would be trading or cutting Trevis Gipson but that's a player who is too productive to turn loose. He led their defensive ends in sacks, even if it was only three. He was sixth in the league in run defense win rate among defensive ends in the NFL, according to ESPN.com.

The acquisition of Green is likely to be the short term, for just one season. That's all his contract is.

The Ideal Bears Defensive End

The ideal defensive end for this group as a fifth was a drafted player who could work into the rotation. They have a couple other possibilities. Jalen Harris is an undrafted player and long shot to make the roster. D'Anthony Jones, who can line up at edge or even in a three technique as an inside rusher is another possibility but he wasn't even at Harris' level. He was signed after a rookie camp tryout. So he wasn't even considered good enough to be a post-draft undrafted free agent signee like Harris.

Adding a veteran is going to mean no development or even end of the road for Robinson or even for Gipson. It's a lot to give up for a player who is likely to get a one-year contract and produces only when they're interested enough to rush the passer.

For this reason, it wouldn't be surprising if they took a long look at Robinson in OTAs and possibly even minicamp before they decide on this. Their hand could get called if another team decides to make a play on one of the free agent edge rushers.