Grading the Bears’ signing of LB T.J. Edwards

The Bears signing T.J. Edwards could go down as one of Ryan Poles’ best free agent moves of his career. Here’s how we graded the deal.

The NFL free agent negotiating window opened on Monday and the Chicago Bears wasted no time in locking up their first signing of the offseason. They agreed to a three-year deal with former Philadelphia Eagles linebacker T.J. Edwards.

Coming into the league as an undrafted free agent out of Wisconsin, Edwards caught on quickly with the Eagles and became a key player on their defense. By his second year, he was a starting linebacker and improved in each season as a professional. Edwards had the best season of his career in 2022, totaling 159 tackles, 10 for a loss, two sacks, and seven passes defensed while also helping the Eagles reach Super Bowl LVII.

Here is our initial grade of the Edwards signing.