Outside of quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, one of the most controversial players on the Bears is outside linebacker Leonard Floyd.
Floyd, who is entering his fifth season, hasn’t exactly lived up to his potential as a former No. 9 overall pick. While the Bears pass rush as a whole suffered in 2019, Floyd was especially underwhelming.
While Floyd had a career-high 12 quarterback hits, he had a career-low three sacks last season. In fact, every season his sack total has decreased since entering the league in 2016.
When Bears general manager Ryan Pace met with the media at the NFL Scouting Combine, he reaffirmed his faith in Floyd. Pace acknowledged that Floyd needs to be more productive as a pass rusher. But he also sounded like someone that remains all-in on Floyd.
“I think Leonard wants to be more productive as a pass rusher,” Pace said. “We want him to be more productive there too. He’s close in a lot of areas when you look at the pressures and those things. He just needs to finish a little better on the quarterback. But I think when you’re evaluating him, you have to factor in everything. His run defense. His ability in coverage.
“We consider him our ‘Sam’ outside linebacker, so we value what he can do in coverage and think sometimes that goes a little underrated for what he does in that area, for a guy that’s of his stature. Not many outside linebackers can drop in coverage like he does. So, that’s a factor.”
That sounds like the declaration of a general manager that’s not willing to move on from Floyd just yet. But knowing Pace, that’s not really a surprise. Moving on from Floyd — or even Trubisky — would be admitting failure.
While Floyd’s ability in coverage is something that separates him from other outside linebackers, ultimately he needs to be more productive opposite Khalil Mack, which in itself affords Floyd more opportunities to close on the quarterback.
But is Floyd’s potential enough to justify his $13.2 million salary in 2020? I guess we’ll see. The Bears still have until March 18 to decide what to do with Floyd. But it sounds like Floyd will remain with the Bears — at least for one more year.
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