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The Chicago Bears could soon make a significant trade to help strengthen a key weakness. Chicago is coming off a fairly successful 2025 season. After finishing 5-12 the previous year, the Bears collected the NFC North title by going 11-6 in the fall. The team even beat their bitter rivals, the Green Bay Packers, in the first round of the playoffs as well.
Although they were eventually dropped in the playoffs by the Los Angeles Rams in overtime, hopes are high in Chicago. With Caleb Williams under center, the Bears racked up 6,282 total yards on offense and scored 441 total points. Both of these figures ranked inside the top 10 among all NFL teams.
While the offense hummed, Chicago’s defense was uncharacteristically subpar. In fact, the Bears allowed opposing teams to gain 6,150 total yards throughout 2025. Only three other NFL teams managed to be more porous during the campaign. They also only registered 35 total sacks on the year, tied for seventh-fewest in the league. As a result, the team brought in free agents Devin Bush and Coby Bryant to help out.
The additions, however, do not address Chicago’s weak defensive line. Because of this, the Bears could look to strike a deal with the New York Giants for Kayvon Thibodeaux. The former fifth overall selection in the 2022 draft has somewhat underperformed since making his NFL debut. Nevertheless, he has still collected 23.5 sacks in 53 starts with the Giants.
GettyKayvon Thibodeaux recorded a career-high 11.5 sacks in 2023.
Speculation over Thibodeaux’s future in New York has increased in recent months. The Giants have undergone a roster shakeup since hiring new head coach John Harbaugh. In fact, the G-Men recently traded away fellow defensive standout Dexter Lawrence in a deal with the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Lawrence trade could be bad news for the Bears, or any other team interested in Thibodeaux. NFL insider Ian Rapoport recently reported that the move makes Thibodeaux now “less likely” to be dealt. This comes after the Giants recently received calls on the availability of the former first-rounder. Nevertheless, Rapoport does claim that “no one is ruling anything out” about the pass rusher’s future.
Although he was previously a top-five pick, the Giants will not get anything near this value if they opt to trade Thibodeaux. Instead, Chicago should potentially be able to get their man with a late-day two draft pick. The Bears currently hold on to several enticing picks after the first round, including the 89th overall selection.
Some may say that the Bears should just address their pass-rusher needs via the upcoming draft. However, it seems somewhat unlikely that Chicago can land a top edge player with the 25th pick. Draft big boards have typically had the top players in this position going before this particular pick.
The Bears could use the third-round selection on Thibodeaux and still have other quality picks to work with. Outside of their 25th overall selection, Chicago also has two additional second-round picks in 2026. They received the additional selection in the round due to the recent deal that sent D.J. Moore to the Buffalo Bills.
Chicago Bears receive: Kayvon Thibodeaux
New York Giants receive: 2026 3rd-Round draft pick
Christopher Moore Christopher Moore has been a Heavy.com contributor since 2025. With over a decade of experience in the industry, he has published thousands of articles reporting on multiple professional sports. He was previously a sports writer for World Soccer Talk, the Yahoo! Contributor Network, and the Maryland Sports Blog. More about Christopher Moore
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