By Michael-Shawn Dugar, Kevin Fishbain, Adam Jahns and Mark Puleo
The Seahawks traded linebacker Darrell Taylor to the Chicago Bears for a 2025 sixth-round pick Thursday, Seattle announced.
Taylor tallied 5 1/2 sacks in five starts last season and has totaled 21 1/2 sacks, 91 tackles and five forced fumbles in his career. He is on a one-year deal worth $3.1 million, which he signed with the Seahawks in March. He has spent three seasons with the Seahawks after the team selected him in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
The 27-year-old Taylor will help fill Chicago’s pass-rushing needs after the team missed on acquiring Matthew Judon, who was traded to the Atlanta Falcons by the New England Patriots last week.
The Bears are excited about rookie defensive end Austin Booker. He’s flashed plenty in training camp and the preseason, but the organization’s pursuit of Judon also said it wanted more depth and experience at the position. They have that now in Taylor.
The Bears also like what DeMarcus Walker can do for them when he slides inside, and having an experienced edge rusher like Taylor who can get after the passer consistently gives coach Matt Eberflus more flexibility with Walker and the different packages they can utilize upfront. The Bears should still be looking for an interior defensive lineman because of Zacch Pickens’ injury, but Taylor’s addition creates a domino effect that should help the interior.
Taylor ended up the odd man out in Seattle’s edge rusher room after the Seahawks moved veteran defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones to outside linebacker this offseason, creating a five-man lineup along with Uchenna Nwosu, Boye Mafe, Derick Hall and Taylor. The problem: Seattle typically only carries four outside linebackers.
Jones missed most of training camp with a hamstring problem, but trading Taylor suggests Jones’ injury won’t linger into the regular season. Taylor has been productive rushing the passer but isn’t as consistent a run defender as the other edge players, which is partly why he was viewed as expendable.
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(Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
